GOOD KOREA MOVE (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Thinking of a lower mid-sized EV van? Then you must consider Kia's PV5 Cargo, thinks Jonathan Crouch.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 31

Kia gate-crashes the lower mid-sized EV van market with this avant-garde PV5 Cargo. The looks are trendy and the technology competitive but what's perhaps most impressive here is the value proposition.

Backgroundword count: 219

As a car maker, Kia has been one of the UK market's success stories. In just three decades, the company have progressed from market newcomers to our nation's fourth most popular brand. So far in Britain, all of this has been achieved purely by selling cars, but in other parts of the world, Kia is well known as a commercial vehicle maker too. In fact, the marque's heritage in LCVs is much longer than it is in cars; Kia's first commercial vehicle - the three-wheel pick-up K-360 of 1962 - appeared 14 years before its first car (and even that car was a passenger-carrying version of a pick-up model, the Brisa). For the last half-century though, Kia has left LCV market to others in the UK - until now. The EV revolution is opening up big opportunities in the van segment which the Korean maker hopes to exploit with a new line of models it calls PBVs (which stands for 'Platform Beyond Vehicles'). The first of these is the lower mid-sized PV5 Cargo model we look at here, also offered as a passenger-carrying MPV (which we'll review separately). It will be followed by larger PV7 and PV9 models and aims to really shake up the EV van market with futuristic styling and aggressive pricing. Let's take a closer look.

Driving Experienceword count: 178

Drive comes from a single front-mounted electric motor with 161bhp, but there's a choice of three battery packs. Things kick off with a small 43.3kWh unit offering up to 181 miles, for those needing only urban delivery mileage. Most sales will be generated by the mid-range 51.5kWh pack. And at the top of the line-up, there's a larger 71.2kWh pack capable of taking the PV5 up to 249 miles. Those mileage figures will be hard to replicate in colder winter months unless you pay more for the optional heat pump. The front wheel drive powertrain format enables a tight turning circle, giving greater manoeuvrability in confined spaces. And this vehicle comes with Kia's Plug & Charge app, which is designed to make finding charging points when you're out and about that much easier. It includes a route planner showing public chargers around the owner's depot. Performance is adequate, the standard range 51.5kWh version making 62mph in 12.8s, a figure the long range 71.2kWh model improves to 10.7s. Maximum speed for both versions though, is limited to just 84mph.

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