Like the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, Kia’s PV5 looks more like a minibus. At 4,695 mm long, 1,895 mm wide, and 1,899 mm tall, Kia’s passenger electric van is slightly smaller than the European ID.Buzz model (4,712 mm long, 1,985 mm wide, 1,937 mm tall).

Its a pity the only EVs that are getting announced are small, and aimed purely at the people mover market. I guess because service vans are usually bought based on price, and BEV is just not enough available power to cart a tonne of gear around over long distances.

I’m looking to replace our diesel service vans (mix of Toyota HiAces and Hyundai iLoads) and I want to go up a little in size, not down to the tune of 500mm or more.

Come on BYD, take that Shark 6 idea and make a van out of it. The Whale 6. I’ll take half a dozen.

Toyota Hiace LWB
    5265 (L) x 1990 (H) x 1950 (W)
Hyundai iLoad
    5125 (L) x 1935 (H) x 1920 (W)

vs

Volkswagen ID.Buzz
    4712 (L) x 1936 (H) x 1985 (W)
Kia PV5
    4695 (L) x 1899 (H) x 1895 (W)

At 4,695 mm long, 1,895 mm wide, and 1,899 mm tall, Kia’s passenger electric van is slightly smaller than the European ID.Buzz model

So… I’m biased. We’ve been driving an electric Mercedes Vito for a few years. Got the L3 version with 9 seats (of which I usually don’t have 2 in there to have more space in the back). The Kia is almost a meter shorter. I was already anticipating that the buzz would make my car obsolete, but it turned out that instead of a proper van they just released an overpriced lifestyle vehicle with about half the volume of the eqv or the Stellantis van. Now that seems to repeat.

With a van, I’m looking for utility. Why would I get this one if I could as well grab a > 5.3m van? Even the short eSpacetourer is 4.983m long, illustrating just how oddly small the Kia is. It’s obviously a hypothetical argument because I’ll probably be happily driving my Vito for the next 10 years at least, but the size alone would be a deal breaker for me.

I hope so cuz it looks terrible in pictures

Used to own an orange pop-top VW Camper bus. Have been drooling after the VW ID.Buzz since the announcement. Would make an amazing roving office.

This Kia ups the stakes. One configuration is as a camper. Waiting to see it in action.

I"m really excited about this. I had a deposit down on a Canoo, which was really a bummer because I loved their design, and I really, really wanted one of their adventure variants. But honestly, it was a bit of a gamble to begin with. I liked the skate board concept, didn’t like the drive by wire, and loved the full body moon roof. We’ve been putting off replacing our leaf which is like, its getting real bad in terms of range. I mean its a 2011 with almost 180k miles. Its done its duty.

Kia seems like a good alternative. I really wanted the full moon roof, but I’ll get a surf rack instead.

That front windshield reminds me of a Pontiac Trans Sport from the 1980s.

I really want a PHEV Odyssey. The current e-CVT tech on Honda is really good and would be perfect for their van.

I’m going to test drive the IDBuzz at some point but I can’t risk my family in a Kia or Chrysler.