KIA PV5 Pickup Launched In South Korea, Van Spied Testing In US

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The Kia PV5 is the Swiss military knife of electrical vans. Very similar to the unique Volkswagen Kombi/Transporter, it may possibly operate as a cargo van, a camper, or a folks mover. Now a pickup truck model has been launched in South Korea and it begins at round $30,000, though native incentives can get the out-the-door value right down to only a smidgen greater than $20,000.

The PV5 Open Mattress will “set a brand new commonplace within the compact industrial car market with differentiated product high quality that has not been seen earlier than,” Kia mentioned after saying that it had begun accepting orders for the electrical truck, which is offered in Fundamental Customary, Fundamental Lengthy Vary, Plus Customary, and Plus Lengthy Vary trims, beginning at $30,000. The Fundamental Lengthy Vary variant begins at $32,000, whereas the Plus Customary and Plus Lengthy Vary fashions are priced at $32,500 and $34,400, respectively.

The Kia PV5 Open Mattress is 5,040 mm lengthy, 1,895 mm in width, and 1,950 mm in peak, with a wheelbase of two,995 mm. That’s about 300 mm shorter than the Toyota Hilux, however 40 mm wider and 150 mm taller than the Hilux. In the meantime, the loading field is 2,420 mm lengthy and 1,750 mm large — not removed from the scale of a typical US 4-door pickup truck.

A Selection Of Two Battery Packs

The PV5 Open Mattress is offered with two battery packs — 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, in accordance with electrek. With the smaller battery, the PV5 has a variety of 250 km (155 miles), whereas the bigger battery boosts vary to 330 km (205 miles), which Kia says is the longest vary of any electrical pickup truck in its class.

Clearly, the Kia PV5 is just not going to tow a ski boat up a mountain street to your lake home 300 miles away on a single cost, however that’s not what it’s designed to do. The opposite 358 days a yr, it can fortunately go in regards to the enterprise of hauling stuff after which get recharged in a single day when the work day is finished.

It additionally has vehicle-to-load functionality inbuilt, which permits it to energy a distant worksite — a characteristic that must be extremely interesting to folks within the trades. Kia mentioned its electrical pickup is the proper match for a number of industries, together with logistics and transportation, environmental providers, and agriculture. The inside encompasses a 12.9″ touchscreen infotainment and a full complement of driver help options reminiscent of ahead collision avoidance help, navigation-based sensible cruise management, freeway driving help, and the newest lane following help software program. 

The PV5 in its varied iterations is the car Tesla may have simply made if it didn’t comply with Elon’s hallucinogenic pursuit of the Cybertruck — a flexible “all issues to all folks” electrical car for industrial prospects who use a van of their common workday or households who benefit from the “van life” expertise. The pickup model channels what Australians name a “ute” — quick for a utilitarian work car that doubles as a household automotive when the workday is finished.

A “ute” usually has a large load-bearing platform that extends out over the rear wheels. No stepladders or cute little “man steps” wanted to succeed in objects within the entrance of the mattress the best way US prospects have to do with their jacked up Silly Obligation pick-em-ups. The perimeters of the mattress are hinged to make entry even simpler.

Cargo may be loaded or unloaded from both aspect or from the rear. Simply strive that together with your Backfire 5000 STZ Carnivore Tremendous Duper truck. Why prospects within the US haven’t demanded a piece truck that’s truly designed for work stays a thriller. The fold-down sides are the best factor since sliced bread, Who wouldn’t wish to make the work day simpler as a substitute of more durable?

The First Platform Past Car

The PV5 is the primary totally electrical van from Kia’s new Platform Past Car division that mixes electrical automobiles tailor-made to a buyer’s particular wants with probably the most superior software program out there from Hyundai Motor Group. Since being launched in Europe, the UK, South Korea, and different markets final yr, the PV5 has earned international recognition, together with being named the 2026 Worldwide Van of the 12 months — the primary time a Korean mannequin has received that award.

Throughout its PV5 Tech Day occasion final yr, Kia confirmed seven totally different physique varieties, together with a light-weight camper, a refrigerated truck, a luxurious Prime mannequin, and the open mattress variant that went on sale in South Korea this week. The PV5 may also be out there in South Korea in a model that may settle for a passenger shuttle module or the PV5 WAY, which encompasses a aspect entry for wheelchair entry.

Coming To The US?

As of this second, Kia has not indicated it can convey the PV5 in its varied iterations to the US. If the Jackass in Chief retains slapping new tariffs on South Korea, the percentages of that taking place get smaller by the day. However, Automotive and Driver stories it noticed a PV5 van driving close to its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this week. Whereas it isn’t uncommon for US producers to check varied out of market automobiles now and again, what caught the eye of the scribes who noticed the van was its US-spec aspect marker lights.

In the USA, automobiles are required to have amber aspect marker lights and reflectors on the entrance, and pink aspect marker lights and reflectors on the rear. “These usually aren’t discovered on automobiles in different elements of the world, and this PV5 seems to characteristic marker lights that don’t seem in photographs of PV5s from different international markets. The entrance marker lights are squeezed into a skinny strip above the entrance bumper trim, whereas the rear marker lights dwell on the aspect of the taillights,” C&D stories.

“The presence of the marker lights on this take a look at car makes us assume Kia may doubtlessly be evaluating the potential for bringing the PV5 to the US. Gross sales of minivans surged in 2025 by 20 %, and Kia’s personal Carnival was a giant participant. It offered 71,917 models within the US final yr, a forty five % enhance over 2024. Though Kia already has a minivan, the PV5’s electrical powertrain and totally different proportions imply it may discover a house within the automaker’s lineup.”

There’s one different attainable purpose for the PV5’s look with US-style marker lights. Canada usually follows the identical vehicular laws because the US, and Kia has introduced that it’ll start promoting the cargo model of the PV5 in Canada in late 2026. “Kia could merely be testing a PV5 passenger van for the Canadian market on the unsuitable aspect of the Detroit River, however we hope that the corporate remains to be contemplating a US market introduction for its futuristic van.”

The corollary to that’s that Canada has damaged ranks with the US on the subject of tariffs on imported automobiles and is actively encouraging Chinese language producers to import a modest variety of automobiles and start constructing factories and provide chain relationships in that nation. It’s lots to say that one van on the streets of Michigan is a dependable predictor of Kia’s intentions, however promoting the PV5 in its varied iterations in Canada looks like a no brainer. Maybe if it does, just a few of them will leak throughout the border so US prospects can see what impact their authorities’s insane and consistently shifting commerce insurance policies are having on them.