Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2024 - 36

Q&
A
Kia takes aim at commercial vans with
electric PBV concepts
Kia is positioning itself to make waves in the commercial vehicle
sector. At CES 2024 in Las Vegas, the company pulled
back the curtains on its electrified commercial van lineup.
Though the designs are still at the concept stage, Kia has
made it clear that it intends to enter the global commercial
van space in short order.
TOHE interviewed Tim Walker, director of fleet and remarketing,
at NTEA's Work Truck Week 2024 in Indianapolis to
discuss some design details of the PBV van lineup, Kia's overall
strategy for entering the commercial vehicle sector, and
the challenges of bringing the vans to market. (See www.sae.
org/news/2024/03/kia-work-truck-week for full interview.)
What is Kia's main goal in entering the
CV sector in North America?
The genesis for this idea was to move
our fleet to zero carbon emissions by
2045. Obviously, that starts with the
retail side, but at the same time our
chairman changed the general edict of
our corporate strategy to be more focused
on mobility solutions. Mobility is
not just selling a customer a car. It's
about moving people and goods in a
new and different way. E-commerce was
also a big factor. There is a lot of desire
to deliver products to customers and
other entities by using electricity instead
of fossil fuels. We're mainly focused on
big fleets, but we're also looking to serve
small businesses. We see a lot of need in
the near future to move this direction, so
we're introducing these concepts to indicate
that we're coming to this space.
What are some details about the driveline and packaging
that you can share?
These vans are all front-wheel drive. The front module is similar
to what we use in some of our other vehicles. There's a reduction
gear motor and the power electronics sit on top of the battery.
The powertrain itself is entirely housed in the front of the
chassis, which is a unibody design. The batteries are centrally
located between the wheels but biased towards the rear to
open up space for various ergonomic options. On the cargo
versions, there is an option to fold the passenger seat into the
floor and the console will be a different configuration so that
the driver can easily move from their seat into the cargo area.
" Development isn't
really the hurdle;
it's more about getting
the distribution
channel set up. "
- Tim Walker, Kia's director of
fleet and remarketing
How many different models are currently planned?
The lineup that we are currently planning is four distinct
models. The PV7 is the largest model in the family. The PV5 is
our mid-level offering, and we will have three different versions
including a chassis cab, a tall box and a rideshare vehicle
that can carry up to five people. The smaller vans like
the PV5 will have a 400-volt architecture, while the PV7 will
have an 800-volt system. The 800V system will have a design
similar to our EV6 and EV9. The PV5 will have a single
motor with a range of 50 to 70 kWh. The 70-kilowatt version
will be what we use for North America because it gives us
more range which better fits the U.S. driving style. The PV7
will have a 103-kWh motor for the U.S. market, which will
provide a 209-mile (336-km) range. The bigger vans will
have a payload of 2,866 lbs (1,300 kg) and the smaller van
will have 1,730 lbs (785 kg).
36 April 2024
How modular is the basic platform?
One of the big ideas behind this platform is
that it's all interchangeable. Our goal is to
be able to switch out the 'life modules' between
cargo, rideshare and other configurations.
If you look at the cab portion which
is from the door forward, the design is fixed
at this point. From here back you can
change the body to different configurations.
We also announced at CES that customers
will be able to purchase a kit and
make body changes themselves. It's a tubular
design and some of the panels are attached with mechanical
fasteners and electromagnets. So, modularity is built in from the
basic design. The front bumpers on these are three pieces. One of
the most common places for vans like this to get hit is on the front.
So, if you do happen to hit something, you can just replace one
piece of the fascia and not the whole thing. The front charge point
has also been moved out of the impact zone to avoid damage.
Do you have any details on production?
All of these vehicles will be produced at our plant in
Hwaseong, South Korea. We have an additional plant that is
dedicated just to producing these vehicles. Our total volume
will be roughly 150,000 units annually. This is a global program,
so we intend to sell these vans in markets all over the world.
Our target time to market for the rideshare van [in the U.S.] is
Q1 of 2026. The cadence after that is still to be determined.
Matt Wolfe
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
https://www.sae.org/news/2024/03/kia-work-truck-week https://www.sae.org/news/2024/03/kia-work-truck-week
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2024

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