The European market had its first glimpse of Kia’s Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) concepts at this month’s IAA Transportation show in Hanover, Germany.
The PBVs — or vans to the rest of us — are the company’s forthcoming attempt to disrupt the light commercial vehicle sector, offering a purpose-built electric line-up to suit both business and private users.
At the IAA show, Kia revealed more details about the PBVs and announced new partnerships and technical achievements in charging, fleet management, and vehicle customisation to bolster the appeal of the new models.
Marc Hedrich, president of Kia in Europe: “In order to disrupt the LCV market, an all-in approach is needed to maximise the benefits of a dedicated platform for a wide range of customers. While this approach is not a first for electric passenger cars, it’s certainly the first time we see it for LCV. This is a benchmark moment, and our PBVs are set to deliver better accessibility, higher volumes, and lower running costs, to completely change logistics and mobility.”
Kia is focusing on expanding its electric vehicle range and creating innovative mobility solutions as part of its ‘Plan S’ strategy. The Kia PBV line-up is part of that plan, with the first vehicles designed to be modular and adaptable. At the heart of this is a new battery electric vehicle platform developed specifically for LCVs, allowing for a wide range of sizes and configurations and providing versatility for customers.
The PV5 and PV7 concepts showcased at the event encompass this flexibility, featuring different interior and exterior configurations. High roofs, spacious cargo areas, and adaptable seating arrangements make them suitable for multiple uses, from urban deliveries to mobile workstations. Kia promises class-leading load volumes but has yet to detail specific dimensions.
Kia also promises commercial users will see top-tier performance from the platform, which is set to deliver exceptional handling, power, and acceleration for city and highway driving. The company also boasts that the vehicles will offer best-in-class manoeuvrability.
Charging and Fleet Management Solutions
PBV owners will have access to the Kia Charge network, which has 780,000 charging points in 28 countries across Europe. Plugging into the Ionity network will deliver ultra-fast charging, where customers can charge vehicles from 10% to 80% in less than 30 minutes — although Kia has yet to confirm the size of the battery pack in the vans. The introduction of Kia’s Plug & Charge system will simplify the process, initiating payment automatically when the vehicle is connected to a charger.
PBVs will also support slower 22kW AC charging, allowing businesses to use depot charging for greater flexibility and cost-effective charging.
The PBVs will be a help tool on work sites, with a vehicle-to-load capability in each vehicle. An adapter connected to the main drive battery will provide the option to power devices, tools and other work equipment for ease and convenience, where needed.
With an eye to the future, Kia is also planning to introduce vehicle-to-grid capability. This will mean that during peak hours, vehicles can send power back to the grid, contributing to energy sustainability and reducing operational costs for businesses.
Partnerships
Kia has partnered with Geotab to help improve efficiency with tools that can help fleet operators optimise routes, reward safe driving and predict maintenance needs. Using this tech aims to reduce downtime and ultimately boost performance.
Each vehicle will be fully connected, providing real-time data to fleet managers, intelligent routing and over-the-air software updates to reduce the time vehicles spend off the road.
Pierre-Martin Bos, PBV director at Kia Europe, said: “We are partnering with Geotab because we share a commitment to providing best-in-class fleet management solutions. Together we are focused on providing fleet operators with advanced technology and rich data insights required to optimise operations and improve driver safety.”
Kia is collaborating with major companies to ensure its PBVs can cater to specific business needs, announcing a collaboration with Petit Forestier Group at the IAA show to focus on developing refrigerated versions of the vans.
Other partnerships include Uber, Coupang, Dubai Taxi Corporation and Kakao Mobility, which will utilise PBVs for ride-hailing and delivery services.
Pierre-Martin Bos, PBV director at Kia Europe: “Our focus is on customer needs, to provide a solution for each use case, ensure business continuity and optimise vehicle uptime. We reinforce our brand promise with a dedicated PBV network ready to service our vehicles with specific customer-oriented standards, on top of the more than 2600 actual Kia dealers in Europe, together with predictive maintenance through our OTA capabilities, we are determined to deliver the most holistic and innovative mobility experience to all our customers, in business and private use.”
Availability
Kia’s PBVs are expected to enter production in 2025, with UK sales starting in 2026. As with all of its vehicles, Kia has confirmed that the vans will be covered by the brand’s seven-year or 100,000-mile warranty.
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