- A Kia PV5 electric cargo van set a new range record while carrying its maximum payload in real-world traffic.
- The record run happened near Frankfurt, Germany, late last month.
- The PV5 exceeded its advertised range by roughly 182 miles, but the average speed was very low.
The Kia PV5 is shaping up to be quite the contender for the title of the best electric van out there, battling it out with the retrolicious Volkswagen ID. Buzz—and the Korean automaker is pulling all the stops to prove it.
Based on a modified version of Hyundai Motor Group’s excellent E-GMP platform that underpins the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV9, the PV5’s main selling point—until now—was its price tag. In Europe, the funky electric van undercuts Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz by a hefty $30,000, and I don’t know about you, but that’s more than a pretty penny in my book.
16
Source: Kia
Now, though, the cargo version of the PV5 proved to the world that driving an electric van doesn’t necessarily mean you have to constantly plug it into chargers because there’s more than enough range. Late last month, a five-door PV5 Cargo with the largest battery available, a 71.2-kilowatt-hour pack, set a new range record by driving 430.84 miles (693.38 kilometers) on a single charge while carrying its maximum allowed payload of 1,466 pounds (665 kilograms).
In other words, the people who drove the record-setting electric van managed to travel an extra 182 miles (293 km) over the EV’s maximum advertised range of 248 miles (400 km). By comparison, the cargo version of the ID. Buzz has a maximum WLTP-rated range of 259 miles (418 km).
Kia said the drive happened late last month on public roads north of Frankfurt, Germany, in real-world traffic conditions. Two drivers took turns in tackling a 36.1-mile (58.2 km) loop that included traffic lights, intersections, roundabouts and typical city traffic, as well as an elevation gain of roughly 1,213 feet (370 meters).
George Barrow, a commercial vehicle journalist who specializes in vans, and Christopher Nigemeier, a senior engineer at the Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center (HMETC), took turns in driving the record-setting Kia PV5.
The van was fully charged, and the charging port was sealed off before the team set off. The effort took 22 hours and 30 minutes to complete. Kia didn’t say what the average speed was, but using the total time and total distance, we get a rather low 19.1 miles per hour (30.8 kilometers per hour).
So, the PV5 wasn’t exactly hustling, but that is a typical speed for cities. And urban deliveries are what small vans like this do best. Bottom line: If EV range is keeping you from hopping on the electric van bandwagon, maybe you should think twice. And maybe the PV5 is the ticket.
