Styling
Looking vaguely like some sort of ship-to-ship space shuttle from a sci-fi show, the PV5 Passenger manages to make what is, when you boil it all down, a van appear almost sexy. It's helped no end in the aesthetic department by the two-tone paint scheme, in this case Cityscape Green (£750), and those 'lightning-bolt' front lights, but other details to note are how far into the corners the 16-inch wheels are shoved, plus those chunky skidplate-esque details in both bumpers. Also, if you look at it carefully, you'll see the Kia is free from needless aesthetic fripperies and overwrought lines to 'catch the light'; it's simply a very good piece of straightforward vehicle design.
Interior
As you might expect of something vaguely commercial, the seating position in the Kia PV5 is wonderful, all high up and looking out of a landscape front windscreen with forward visibility boosted by quarter-lights in the front pillars and simply huge side-glass in the doors. Tech-wise, there's a 7.5-inch driver's display and then a 12.9-inch main infotainment display, which does run most of the in-car (in-van?) functions - including climate. But it's responsive, well-ordered and graphically sharp, and elsewhere there are some proper physical buttons which all work slickly, most of these sited on the Kia's funky little two-spoke wheel. Material quality is also excellent and very passenger-esque, rather than like a trimmed-up CV.
Practicality
You're not going to get much more practical than what is essentially a tall box on wheels. Not even the loftiest of passengers would complain about the acres of legroom and galaxy of headroom the PV5 provides, and getting into the second row will be easy because both the rear doors are sliding items, while the Kia's 2.1-metre width means seating three across the bench would be no hardship at all.
Clever storage solutions (such as trays under both front seats) and touches abound everywhere, including intriguing bag holder 'slots' to the right of the steering wheel and on the back of the central tunnel construct, and then of course the boot is a monster. All five seats in use (there's a seven-seat variant of the PV5 if you need it), the Kia has a colossal 1,330 litres at its disposal, and with the rear seats folded down there's an astounding 3,615 litres to play with. Because it is, yes, a van.
One thing to note, though: the PV5's charging port is at the front, just between the lower light clusters, so you have to nose it in to public DC points, which isn't always ideal.
Performance
Kia hasn't fitted the PV5 with the largest of its battery packs nor the most potent of e-motors either, so you're talking about 71.2kWh and 163hp/250Nm. These numbers translate into 256 miles of WLTP range, as well as a 0-62mph time of 10.6 seconds. But on the move, with spectacularly well-judged throttle response and blended brakes, the PV5 feels admirably brisk rather than lethargic, and is more than capable of easily keeping up with regular traffic flow.
Brilliantly, across 285 miles of mixed-roads testing, the Kia stubbornly delivered a fantastic 3.5 miles/kWh while on test with us, which would work out as a near-quoted 249 miles of real-world range. It also charged quickly, typically in the 80-120kW zone on 150kW connectors, when we hooked it up, so we weren't sitting around too long waiting for its battery to replenish.
Ride & Handling
After the weird buckeroo antics of the EV5, the PV5 redeemed our faith in Kia's chassis engineers. For ride and refinement, the electric van is largely fabulous and it doesn't feel even remotely commercial in the way it covers ground. Sure, there's a little more wind ruffling around its high form, while road noise isn't maybe as stridently suppressed as it is in some of the best SUVs in and around this price point, but you won't spend your time crashing around in the PV5 and regretting your life choices. It's a lovely thing to drive, and it even has good steering and clean body control, although given its shape we didn't exactly ever hurl the Kia about like it was some sort of cuboid
Stinger.
Value
As if its stylish exterior, its lovely, spacious and hugely practical cabin, and its serene driving manners with great real-world efficiency weren't enough, then you discover that the Kia PV5 is a bargain - a heck of a rarity in the modern motoring world. The range starts from just £31,495 including the plug-in grant for EVs, and our test Passenger was only just beyond 35 grand with the lush green paint slathered on it. Admittedly, Essential is the base of three trims for the PV5 (the grander two being Plus and then Elite), but because this is a Kia you still get loads of standard kit, including privacy glass, all-LED exterior lighting and LED cabin lighting too, auto lights and wipers, automatic climate control, radar cruise control, the twin digital screens including wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, keyless entry and go, front and rear parking sensors with a reversing camera, and a six-speaker audio system, among much more. Oh, and don't forget Kia's superb seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty to boot.
Verdict
The marvellous Kia PV5 not only immediately eradicates our disappointment generated by a
long week with the EV5, but it also installs itself as one of our favourite family-friendly vehicles of any shape, size or type in and around this sector of the market. At substantially less than £40,000 for something so thoroughly likeable, capable and easy on the eye, the PV5 is one of the finest EVs on sale right now. And if, somehow, it's not big or practical enough for you? Then good news: an enlarged PV7 is on the way. We can't wait to try that one out for size.
