- After showing the exterior design last week, Kia has divulged more details about its new electric PV5 van for Europe and South Korea.
- Built on a modular platform, the PV5 will be sold in an array of configurations, including passenger and cargo variants and a wheelchair-accessible model.
- The PV5 packs a front-mounted 161-hp electric motor and an estimated range of over 200 miles.
Kia first signaled its intent to enter the electric commercial vehicle space at CES 2024 more than a year ago, showing off three van concepts ranging from the teensy PV1 to the large PV7. After showing off the production-ready styling of the mid-size PV5 last week, Kia has now released full details on the PV5 at its EV Day event in Spain. The new van will launch with a series of body styles, a range of nearly 250 miles, and a highly flexible interior.
An Adaptable Platform
The PV5 is the first production model in Kia’s new PBV—standing for Platform Beyond Vehicle—business and will ride on a new platform dubbed E-GMP.S, a version of Hyundai-Kia’s skateboard-style battery architecture. The E-GMP.S platform has been developed with flexibility in mind, allowing Kia to affix a wide array of bodies atop a flat base. Kia compares its “Flexible Body System” to building a puzzle and asserts that the PV5 will be well-suited to a vast range of use cases.
Kia will sell the PV5 in three body styles: passenger, cargo, and chassis cab. The passenger version has a spacious interior with three rows of seats that can fold up and down to form various configurations. Kia envisions the passenger-spec PV5 as being well adapted for ride-hailing services, as the company worked closely with Uber throughout the van’s development, but it also sees the van being well suited for personal use.
The PV5’s cargo model will offer standard, long, and high-roof configurations, and the latter will also be available with a walk-through setup for businesses that need to quickly and easily get to the cargo hold. Kia says the PV5 measures 184.8 inches from nose to tail, making it a bit longer than compact vans such as the Ford Transit Connect. The PV5’s maximum cargo capacity of just over 180 cubic feet also makes it a tad roomier than most compact vans, and Kia says the PV5 cargo can fit two Euro-sized pallets. The PV5 will also be capable of vehicle-to-load functionality, allowing owners to power tools directly from the cargo area.
Lastly, the PV5 chassis cab will be sold as an unfinished vehicle that can be adapted for myriad uses. The chassis cab pairs the front of the PV5 cargo with a flat section that includes side-collision protection for the battery and mounting brackets for installations such as a standard box van or freezer box setup. A slew of other versions will be added in the future, including the PV5 crew—with a mixture of seating and cargo storage—and the PV5 WAV, a wheelchair-accessible model. A camper model is also in the cards.
Kia provided extra details on the PV5 WAV, which will sport a side opening to allow easy access to the van for wheelchair users from the curb via a ramp that can support up to 661 pounds. Kia also says there is a user-friendly universal wheelchair belt-fastening system, and the WAV model includes third-row tip-up seats to allow other passengers to ride with someone in a wheelchair.
Electric Motors and a Modern Cabin
Three battery choices will be offered in the PV5. Most versions of the electric van will come equipped with either a 51.5-kWh or a 71.2-kWh battery, with both employing nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry. The PV5 cargo variant will also offer a 43.3-kWh unit with a lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry. All batteries will power a single front-mounted electric motor producing 161 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque.
Kia says the PV5’s maximum range will be around 248 miles when fitted with the 71.2-kWh battery in the passenger configuration. That figure is based on the optimistic European WLTP test cycle and would roughly translate to a 211-mile range using the EPA’s methodology. Kia also claims the PV5 will be able to charge from 10 to 80 percent in as little as 30 minutes, but it didn’t specify which battery that figure applies to.
The cabin looks modern and fairly plush for a van, offered in a variety of colors from Deep Navy to Terracotta Brown and Iceberg Green. Kia says it utilized durable, easy-to-clean, sustainable materials as well as eco-friendly choices. The “driver zone” is the same across all versions of the PV5 and centers around a 7.0-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.9-inch infotainment screen running an Android Automotive-based operating system. Sticking with the theme of versatility, the automaker is launching “Kia AddGear,” a selection of modular accessories that can be added to the cabin.
The PV5 will be assembled in a new dedicated factory called the EVO Plant in South Korea. Sales will kick off in South Korea and Europe in the second half of 2025, before adding other markets in 2026. Unfortunately, there are no plans to bring the PV5 to the United States, presumably a result of the “chicken tax,” a 25 percent import tariff on light trucks.
Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.
Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
