Kia just made its big CES reveal, and it’s called the Platform Beyond Vehicle, or PBV for short. The “PBV” isn’t just one vehicle, though. In total, there are five PBVs that were just revealed at CES – three versions of the Concept PV5, the Concept PV7 and the Concept PV1. All of them are electric.
That’s a whole lot of cars, and they all have their purposes.The idea behind the line of PBV vehicles is to create a modular fleet of vehicles that can be modified to suit certain needs in quick order.
Here’s how Kia describes it: “The design strategy is to enable a single vehicle chassis to be used to fulfill multiple mobility needs. Behind a fixed cab, or ‘driver zone,’ a variety of interchangeable upper bodies, or ‘life modules,’ can be connected to the base vehicle via a hybrid electromagnetic and mechanical coupling technology, turning the PBV into a taxi during the day, to a delivery van at night and a personal recreational vehicle on weekends.”
All of the PV vehicles share a similar design language that can most succinctly be described as practical. They’re van-like but without much of a front end to maximize the utility behind the driver and maintain a smaller overall footprint. As for the specific use cases of each PBV, Kia says it envisions a production version of the Concept PV5 in four different body styles: Basic, Van, High Roof and Chassis Cab. It even has eyes on a possible robotaxi version in the future by way of a joint venture with autonomy company Aptiv.
Meanwhile, the PV7 is designed to offer the most interior space, greatest driving range and the most amenities/features. It has the largest wheelbase of them all and is the opposite of the PV1, which is the smallest and goes its own way on styling. The PV1 is ostensibly a hatchback, and Kia says it’s meant to be used for short-distance transportation and to be an agile tool in small spaces.
All of the PBVs feature a modular rail system on the ceiling, floor and side panels for easy customization and easy transfer of storage systems (cabinets, shelves etc.) in between vehicles. Kia says that the design of these PBVs allows for easy transformation. The various body tops that go on the chassis are meant to be available in kit form and are designed for “quick and simple in-field transformation.”
From the photos, Kia suggests a number of different use cases. We see the vans being used as a mobile pop-up shop for clothing, as a transportation device for handicapped people and as a comfortable people-mover with lots of seats. The driver and front passenger area features a massive wraparound screen, while the steering wheel houses its own screen in the center. That wheel can flip upwards and out of the way, and a removable tablet serves as both the infotainment screen and a handheld device. A living room theme emanates throughout the various Concept PVs, making them feel like especially nice places to hangout in.
This whole project is a little more serious than many ideas you may see at CES, too, as plans for a PBV-dedicated assembly plant are already underway. To be built in Autoland Hwaseong, the factory is expected to be online in 2025 and produce up to 150,000 vehicles per year. A business and tracking system is scheduled to be launched alongside the PV vehicles that will allow for easier fleet management and monitoring of the vehicles someone might have in their fleet. It’s unclear if these vehicles will ever go on sale in the U.S. at this point, but we’ll be on the lookout for any news over the next couple years.
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