For large families and lovers of an active outdoor lifestyle, few things compare in terms of practicality and versatility than a van.
Full disclosure: I use a diesel engine. Volkswagen Transporter (apologies, Earth) as a daily routine, simply because it suits children best, mountain bikessurfboards and a strange broken motorcycle on board. You can keep your SUVs, they just can't compete in terms of space.
Until now, the electric van market has been relatively slow to catch up with its passenger car counterpart, with companies such as Ford electrifying their popular Transit Custom and E-Tourneo, while Citroën also offers the ë-SpaceTourer in Europe.
It can be argued that VW ID Live Informationwith its unusual looks and retro elements, was the first to really appeal to the non-business buyer, but even this car has its problems. Efficiency is low, the asking price is astronomical, and there's not much space inside.
Kia believes it can capitalize on this, so it has invested huge amounts of money in the Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) EV skateboard chassis, which will eventually underpin a range of commercial and consumer vehicles.
Small vans, large vans, vans with refrigerators and pizza ovens in the back, pickup vans, vans that can carry people, and vans that are easily accessible to people in wheelchairs are all on the way.
But at the moment there are PV5 passenger and cargo models in Europe.
Working class hero
Let's start with prices, which we know for sure will start at £32,995 in the UK for the PV5 Passenger in its most affordable 'Essential' trim. There's no word yet on whether it'll go on sale in the US anytime soon, but that figure puts it at around $44,000 converted, or AU$67,000.
That's nearly half the price of its closest competitor, the cool, retro-styled ID Buzz, but it still offers a range of 183 miles, which is only slightly less than the cheapest ID Buzz.
Pair it with the larger 71.2kWh battery, which still costs just £35,995 (about $48,000/AU$73,000), and you'll get 256 miles combined. That's less than many competing electric SUVs, which offer only a fraction of the interior space and range.
Power and performance are quite adequate for such a massive family car, with the single engine producing 160bhp.
Despite its size, it rides fantastically well, remaining smooth and composed through tight corners, providing wonderfully easy handling around town and isolating the cabin from the outside world for virtually silent travel.
Ace of space
As mentioned earlier, Kia is set to release multiple versions of the PV5, as well as smaller and larger vans that will be based on the same platform.
Both passenger and cargo variants are currently available, with the former offering five flexible seats inside, while the latter is a true two-seat commercial van designed to carry kits and equipment in its sparse rear section.
The commercial vehicle world today is a complex picture, with fleet buyers selecting their chariots based on payload, dimensions and financial information that I don't know how to work with a spreadsheet to figure out.
In short, I wanted to focus on the Passenger model because buyers are more likely to buy it over a seven-seat SUV or similar.
As a passenger car, it's fantastic, with huge space in the back that can accommodate three passengers in comfort. Those rear seats are also heated in the more luxurious Plus models, and have footrests and plenty of USB-C ports for charging devices.
The second row is also flexible, so it folds flat if you need to use the spacious rear cargo space to haul surfboards, mountain bikes or just a mountain of family stuff. It doesn't quite have the same versatility as a crew van where the seats can be completely removed, but what? It's coming.
More like a car than most
I've always harped on the Volkswagen Transporter to anyone who would listen, claiming it to be one of the most 'car-like' vans money can buy, boasting handling characteristics and refinement that take it beyond just being a big box on wheels.
The ID Buzz took that mantra and ran with it, but also used VW's latest and slightly shoddy infotainment system. Plus, when I rode it, it felt big and heavy on the road. The Kia PV5, surprisingly, doesn't do this and uses a dedicated Android Automotive infotainment system to boot.
This is not the same widescreen option as the last version. Let's EV3, EV4 and so on, but a 12.9-inch unit mounted in the center of the dashboard. Kia has done this so that commercial users can download and run special apps that help grease the wheels of commerce.
It's very easy and intuitive to use, and the added bonus is that owners get access to the Android app store to download onto it. There's also a neat, customizable digital display behind the steering wheel that displays speed, range and other important information.
While there are a few physical buttons scattered around the cabin, I would have happily picked up more, especially for adjusting things like the heating and air conditioning and silencing all horns and security system beeps.
The only issue I had was the driving position because, unlike most other commercial vehicles, the floor is positioned relatively high to accommodate the electrical connectors that power the PV5.
This creates neat storage space underneath, but it also means you drive it a little like a sedan, without that upright, outstretched leg of many traditional combustion-engined rivals.
It also means you sit with your hips almost level with the side windows, which, while creating a nice, spacious cabin for those in front, requires all passengers to be dressed accordingly. It just seems a little strange at first.
Impressive debut
I just can't fault the PV5 for its practicality: the passenger version offers more boot space than the massive Kia EV9 with the rear seats folded down.
Fold down the rear seats in the PV5 and it feels like a proper commercial vehicle, with a huge cargo bay that can swallow bikes whole. In terms of liters per minute, you get 1,330 with all seats up and a whopping 2,300 with the second row folded.
By comparison: very spacious Tesla Model Y offers around 2000 liters of space with the rear seats folded down, but not the practicality that a tall, boxy rear end like the PV5 provides. Moreover, this is a large part of the changes, which also costs more.
Versatile, stylish, comfortable on the inside and offering a range that most can live with, the PV5 brings back the halcyon days of minivans and people carriers, but packs it all into a platform that's versatile enough to ensure it's profitable for the company.
Of course, there's no giant version with a range of over 300 miles yet, and the 400V electrical architecture means charging speeds are limited to 150kW, but Kia's debut van is fantastically efficient, meaning you'll get the range predicted by the readings.
This is the first electric van I've tested that has made me consider ditching diesel… something the VW ID Buzz couldn't do.
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