Kia just unveiled its newest concept at CES, which it calls the Platform Beyond Vehicle, or PBV for short. But there are multiple vehicles that make up the “PBV.” Five PBVs in total were recently unveiled at CES: three iterations of the Concept PV5, the Concept PV7, and the Concept PV1. They’re all powered by electricity.
That is a sizable fleet of cars, and each one performs a particular purpose.The goal of the PBV vehicle line is to build a fleet of modular cars that can be quickly ordered to meet specific requirements.
Kia explains it like way: “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.”
The design language that unites all of the PV vehicles can be summed up as practical. In order to optimise their utility behind the driver and keep a smaller overall footprint, they resemble vans but lack a significant front end. Regarding the particular applications for each PBV, Kia states that it plans to produce the Concept PV5 in four body types: Basic, Van, High Roof, and Chassis Cab. It also has its sights set on a future robotaxi iteration through an alliance with the independent company Aptiv.
In the meantime, the PV7 is built to provide the maximum amount of driving range, interior room, and amenities/features. Unlike the PV1, which is the smallest and has a unique style, it has the greatest wheelbase of any of them. Kia claims that the PV1, which is essentially a hatchback, is designed to be an agile tool for limited places and for short-distance transportation.
A modular rail system on the floor, ceiling, and side panels of every PBV makes it simple to customise and move storage systems (shelves, cabinets, etc.) across vehicles. According to Kia, these PBVs’ design makes transformation simple. The several body toppers for the chassis are intended to be sold as kits and are intended to be “quick and simple in-field transformation.”
Kia offers several potential uses based on the images. The vans are seen serving as comfy people mover with lots of seats, a mobile pop-up apparel store and a means of transportation for the disabled. A large wraparound screen surrounds the driver and front passenger compartment, and a separate screen is mounted in the centre of the steering wheel. Its wheel can be flipped up and out of the way, and the infotainment screen and portable gadget are both housed in a detachable tablet. The several Concept PVs all have a living room motif to them, which gives the impression that they would be especially nice places to hang out in.
Because plans are already in motion for a plant that will be dedicated to PBV assembly, this project is a bit more serious than many of the concepts you could come across at CES. The plant, which will be constructed in Autoland Hwaseong, is anticipated to start production in 2025 and be able to handle up to 150,000 cars annually. Alongside the PV vehicles, a business and tracking system is planned for deployment, facilitating simpler fleet management and vehicle monitoring for fleet owners. At this point, it’s unknown if these cars will ever be sold in the United States, but we’ll keep an eye out for any updates over the coming years.