- Kia set an electric range world record with its PV5 Cargo electric van.
- PV5 was weighed down with 1,740 lbs / 790 kg of cargo for realism.
- Two drivers completed a 22-hour journey on actual roads with traffic.
Diesel car sales are way down, but the stinky stuff is still the fuel of choice for many van operators due to a diesel engine’s durability, efficiency and long range. Maybe not for long though.
Kia’s new PV5 Cargo electric fan has just set a Guinness World Record after traveling 430.84 miles (693.38 km) on a single charge.
Related: This PV5 Is VW’s Idea Of A VW ID. Buzz
That would be a solid, though hardly newsworthy feat in a car, but it’s more impressive in a brick-shaped van (albeit a slippery one) whose official range is only 258 miles (415 km). And it borders on a miracle when you learn that it was achieved while carrying the PV5’s maximum payload of 1,740 lbs, or 790 kg.
The record wasn’t a lab test or a hypermiling stunt. This was a real-world endurance run, conducted north of Frankfurt, Germany, under the same urban and extra-urban conditions any delivery van might face on a long working day – or two.
Behind the wheel of the PV5 were commercial vehicle journalist George Barrow, and Christian Nigemeier, a senior engineer at Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre.
Over the course of the 22.5-hour challenge, the duo completed 12 loops of a 36.2-mile (58.2 km) route, complete with traffic lights, roundabouts, and an elevation gain of 1,210 ft (370 m).
The record-breaking PV5 was in stock form, but fitted with a 71.2 kWh battery, the larger of the two available power packs.
A smaller 51.5 kWh battery is also available for businesses who don’t cover a ton of miles in a day or want to get anywhere in a hurry – it’s only rated for 184 miles (296 km) and takes 16.2 seconds to reach 62mph versus 12.4 seconds for the 71.2 kWh version.
The PV5 is the first member of Kia’s Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) family, built on the brand’s new E-GMP.S architecture, the commercial vehicle version of the platform used in passenger cars like the EV6 and EV9.
Like combustion commercials it’s designed for modular flexibility and can be ordered as a panel van, chassis cab or minivan.
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