And it appears to already have its first customer. The company announced during the Monday press conference that is has formed a global partnership with Uber, according to Pierre-Martin Bos, vice president of Kia’s new so-called PVB business division.
Not only will the underlying electric powertrain be modular, similar to other skateboard-style models that are popular in the industry, but so will the hoods on those cars. According to Kia, in practice this looks like cars with constant driver’s cabins that can be updated. the rest of the vehicle interior.
Kia PBV concept line. Image credits: Kia
These cabs (Kia calls them “living modules”) are attached to the chassis by mechanical couplings and electromagnets, although Kia has not specified the main points of their operation.
Kia was light on specs, but said it is building a dedicated plant to make them in South Korea that it claims will be operational in 2025. Kia expects an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles but said that could grow to 300,000 globally.
Image credits: Kirsten Korosec
The first model manufactured will be the Kia PV5, a futuristically styled three-row minivan that is expected to hit the road in 2025 for around $35,000. Kia also showed renders of a larger edition (the PV7) scheduled for 2027 and a smaller, smarter-sized option (the PV1). The company said it expects a robotaxi edition to arrive in 2028 and that vehicles built on the platform will eventually be available to general consumers.
The look of the cars is quite austere and utilitarian. None of them are as adorable as sister company Hyundai’s eye-catching Staria van. Design-wise, they’re not all that different from what EV startup Canoo has promised for the past few years. to deliver at scale. Hyundai and Canoo were involved in a partnership that was canceled by the EV startup’s CEO, who later made vague allusions to protecting his company’s intellectual assets.
This article has been updated with details from Kia’s press conference at CES 2024.