Kia PV5: a modular electric toolbox

Car Design News first clapped eyes on what was to be the Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) series at the Driver’s Club in Munich back in 2024. Then head of Future Design Group at Kia, Won-Kyu Kang, presented the PV5 and PV7 and PV1 commercial vehicle concepts. Fast forward to late 2025, and two things have changed. Kang is now head of interiors at Kia and the PV5 has made it to production. Fast work, made more impressive by the preciseness of the execution.

With crisp proportions, a distinctive light signature and a modular body concept designed to work across multiple use cases, the Kia PV5 sits somewhere between industrial product design and automotive architecture. That hybrid thinking was deliberate from the outset. 

“The customer is always the most important factor,” Kang said via videolink to CDN. “But with the PV5, the challenge was very different from a passenger car. In most cases, the buyer, the user and the customer are the same person. With the PV5, they can be three different people.”

A fleet manager might buy the vehicle, a driver might operate it, and a passenger or delivery recipient might ultimately experience it. Reconciling those overlapping needs into a single coherent product, Kang explained, was the defining challenge of the programme.

We defined one strong base principle and then developed derivatives to meet those different purposes

To tackle that complexity, Kia’s design team invested heavily in direct customer research. Fleet managers from companies such as Amazon and Uber were invited into the development process to discuss what they really wanted from a next-generation commercial EV. “We asked them very direct questions,” Kang said. “What are the priorities? Is it luxury materials? Is it long wheelbase for cruising comfort? Is it visibility? Is it ease of access? We tried to define the vehicle together with them.”

One of the most critical outcomes of that dialogue was visibility. The PV5 is intended primarily for dense urban environments in Europe and Korea, where tight streets and constant manoeuvring are part of everyday operation. “We spent a lot of time discussing the H-point, the eye ellipse, the beltline and the power point so that the driver can have maximum outward visibility,” Kang said.

Ease of entry and exit was another priority, particularly for delivery drivers who may enter and leave the vehicle dozens or even hundreds of times a day. Kia also studied how parcels are stacked inside cargo vans, noting that heavier items are typically loaded deep inside while lighter items sit closer to the door. That insight informed decisions around floor height, cargo access and overall interior geometry. “We wanted to optimise the vehicle height and the floor height so drivers don’t have to bend too much,” Kang explained. “Those factors defined the basic 3D layout of the vehicle.”

The result is a modular platform capable of supporting a wide range of derivatives, from three-seat cargo versions to five-, seven- and nine-seat people carriers. “Different fleet managers have different needs,” Kang said. “So we defined one strong base principle and then developed derivatives to meet those different purposes.”

Despite its highly functional brief, the PV5 also carries a strong visual identity. Kang was clear that aesthetics were never treated as a secondary concern. “We didn’t want to sacrifice functionality for the sake of good looks,” he said. “What we wanted was for functionality and usability to define the right type of aesthetic.”

“Dyson redefined vacuum cleaners by understanding user pain points and adding unexpected convenience. We wanted a similar before-and-after moment with the PV5”

That thinking led the team to adopt what Kang describes as a ‘toolbox’ philosophy. “We wanted the car to be like a toolbox,” he said. “Every part should be useful. We approached it more like product design than classical automotive design.”

Visually, that approach is expressed through clean, robust surfaces and a clear graphic split between the main body colour and a darker upper zone. The hood, for example, is made from a newly developed composite material that is not painted but comes straight out of the tool with a piano-black finish. “There’s no orange peel or anything like that,” Kang noted. “It gives a very striking, memorable graphic.”

The PV5 also debuts a new evolution of Kia’s lighting identity. Building on the Star Map signature seen on models such as the EV9, EV5 and EV3, the PV5 introduces a rhythmic thick-and-thin light graphic designed to feel more dynamic. “It’s a preview of what’s coming next in Kia’s lighting identity,” Kang said.

Perhaps counterintuitively, that new visual language is being rolled out first on a commercial vehicle rather than a sports car or flagship SUV. “We started designing PBVs back in 2020,” Kang explained. “Our belief, shared with Karim Habib, is that design is a tool for the company. When the business team first briefed us, they wanted something as cheap and durable as possible – almost like metro-style plastic seats. We had to explain that we needed to go beyond that mindset.”

Instead, the team looked to consumer product design for inspiration, particularly Dyson. “Before Dyson, vacuum cleaners were judged mainly on power and durability,” Kang said. “Dyson redefined the category by understanding user pain points and adding unexpected convenience. We wanted a similar before-and-after moment with the PV5.”

That philosophy also shaped the interior, where usability and human comfort were prioritised alongside durability. While Kang was cautious about detailing specific sustainable material innovations, he emphasised the importance of creating a ‘liveable’ space. “We identified that people using PBVs may eat, do paperwork or rest in the car,” he said. “So giving a liveable space inside was really important.”

The digital ecosystem is another pillar of the PV5 concept, particularly for fleet customers. While Kang deferred technical detail to Kia’s specialists, he outlined a system that allows fleet managers to monitor battery status, vehicle location and operational data across entire fleets in real time. “They can manage and operate the vehicles almost as if they are in their hands,” he said.

From a development perspective, one of the most complex aspects of the project was managing trade-offs. Lowering the step height, for example, could mean reducing battery thickness, which in turn affects range. Increasing battery volume improves range but raises floor height and reduces interior headroom. “Every decision involved balancing these factors,” Kang said. “The key skill was finding the trade-offs that made the most sense for the majority of users.”

“Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Every critical decision came back to one question: does this benefit the customer?”

Those trade-offs were further complicated by regional differences. In Korea, for instance, the PV5 will be offered with an open-bed version tailored to local logistics infrastructure, where loading heights are standardised to match distribution centres. “Even if you can lower the bed height technically, we deliberately match it to the infrastructure,” Kang explained. “In Europe, that wouldn’t make sense. Designing one vehicle that works across different infrastructures is a real challenge.”

For Kang, the unifying principle throughout the programme was empathy. “Whether in advanced design or series production, the principle stays the same,” he said. “Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Every critical decision came back to one question: does this benefit the customer?”

Should it succeed, the PV5 points to a more holistic way of tackling commercial vehicles – not merely as utilitarian tools, but as carefully designed products shaped by human behaviour, urban realities and brand identity.