KIA PV5 Pickup Launched In South Korea, Van Spied Testing In US

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The Kia PV5 is the Swiss army knife of electric trucks. Much like the original Volkswagen Kombi/Transporter, it can function as a cargo van, a camper, or a people mover. Now a pickup truck version has been introduced in South Korea and it starts at around $30,000, although local incentives can get the out-the-door price down to just a smidgen more than $20,000.

The PV5 Open Bed will “set a new standard in the compact commercial vehicle market with differentiated product quality that has not been seen before,” Kia said after announcing that it had begun accepting orders for the electric truck, which is available in Basic Standard, Basic Long Range, Plus Standard, and Plus Long Range trims, starting at $30,000. The Basic Long Range variant starts at $32,000, while the Plus Standard and Plus Long Range models are priced at $32,500 and $34,400, respectively.

The Kia PV5 Open Bed is 5,040 mm long, 1,895 mm in width, and 1,950 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2,995 mm. That’s about 300 mm shorter than the Toyota Hilux, but 40 mm wider and 150 mm taller than the Hilux. Meanwhile, the loading box is 2,420 mm long and 1,750 mm wide — not far from the dimensions of a typical US 4-door pickup truck.

A Choice Of Two Battery Packs

The PV5 Open Bed is available with two battery packs — 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, according to electrek. With the smaller battery, the PV5 has a range of 250 km (155 miles), while the larger battery boosts range to 330 km (205 miles), which Kia says is the longest range of any electric pickup truck in its class.

Obviously, the Kia PV5 is not going to tow a ski boat up a mountain road to your lake house 300 miles away on a single charge, but that’s not what it’s designed to do. The other 358 days a year, it will happily go about the business of hauling stuff and then get recharged overnight when the work day is done.

It also has vehicle-to-load capability built in, which allows it to power a remote worksite — a feature that should be highly appealing to people in the trades. Kia said its electric pickup is the perfect fit for several industries, including logistics and transportation, environmental services, and agriculture. The interior features a 12.9″ touchscreen infotainment and a full complement of driver assistance features such as forward collision avoidance assistance, navigation-based smart cruise control, highway driving assist, and the latest lane following assist software. 

The PV5 in its various iterations is the vehicle Tesla could have easily made if it didn’t follow Elon’s hallucinogenic pursuit of the Cybertruck — a versatile “all things to all people” electric vehicle for commercial customers who use a van in their regular workday or families who enjoy the “van life” experience. The pickup version channels what Australians call a “ute” — short for a utilitarian work vehicle that doubles as a family car when the workday is done.

A “ute” typically has a wide load-bearing platform that extends out over the rear wheels. No stepladders or cute little “man steps” needed to reach items in the front of the bed the way US customers need to do with their jacked up Stupid Duty pick-em-ups. The sides of the bed are hinged to make access even easier.

Cargo can be loaded or unloaded from either side or from the rear. Just try that with your Backfire 5000 STZ Carnivore Super Duper truck. Why customers in the US have not demanded a work truck that is actually designed for work remains a mystery. The fold-down sides are the greatest thing since sliced bread, Who wouldn’t want to make the work day easier instead of harder?

The First Platform Beyond Vehicle

The PV5 is the first fully electric van from Kia’s new Platform Beyond Vehicle division that combines electric vehicles tailored to a customer’s specific needs with the most advanced software available from Hyundai Motor Group. Since being launched in Europe, the UK, South Korea, and other markets last year, the PV5 has earned global recognition, including being named the 2026 International Van of the Year — the first time a Korean model has won that award.

During its PV5 Tech Day event last year, Kia showed seven different body types, including a light camper, a refrigerated truck, a luxury Prime model, and the open bed variant that went on sale in South Korea this week. The PV5 will also be available in South Korea in a version that can accept a passenger shuttle module or the PV5 WAY, which features a side entry for wheelchair access.

Coming To The US?

As of this moment, Kia has not indicated it will bring the PV5 in its various iterations to the US. If the Jackass in Chief keeps slapping new tariffs on South Korea, the odds of that happening get smaller by the day. Nevertheless, Car and Driver reports it saw a PV5 van driving near its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this week. While it is not unusual for US manufacturers to test various out of market cars from time to time, what caught the attention of the scribes who spotted the van was its US-spec side marker lights.

In the United States, vehicles are required to have amber side marker lights and reflectors at the front, and red side marker lights and reflectors at the rear. “These typically aren’t found on cars in other parts of the world, and this PV5 appears to feature marker lights that don’t appear in photos of PV5s from other global markets. The front marker lights are squeezed into a thin strip above the front bumper trim, while the rear marker lights live on the side of the taillights,” C&D reports.

“The presence of the marker lights on this test vehicle makes us think Kia could potentially be evaluating the possibility of bringing the PV5 to the US. Sales of minivans surged in 2025 by 20 percent, and Kia’s own Carnival was a big player. It sold 71,917 units in the US last year, a 45 percent increase over 2024. Although Kia already has a minivan, the PV5’s electric powertrain and different proportions mean it could find a space in the automaker’s lineup.”

There’s one other possible reason for the PV5’s appearance with US-style marker lights. Canada generally follows the same vehicular regulations as the US, and Kia has announced that it will begin selling the cargo version of the PV5 in Canada in late 2026. “Kia may simply be testing a PV5 passenger van for the Canadian market on the wrong side of the Detroit River, but we hope that the company is still considering a US market introduction for its futuristic van.”

The corollary to that is that Canada has broken ranks with the US when it comes to tariffs on imported cars and is actively encouraging Chinese manufacturers to import a modest number of cars and begin building factories and supply chain relationships in that country. It’s a lot to say that one van on the streets of Michigan is a reliable predictor of Kia’s intentions, but selling the PV5 in its various iterations in Canada seems like a no-brainer. Perhaps if it does, a few of them will leak across the border so US customers can see what effect their government’s insane and constantly shifting trade policies are having on them.