Kia is following up with a strong year for itself Electric passenger cars By sharing what you want to do for businesses looking to go electric. At CES 2024, the Korean automaker just unveiled an upcoming lineup of electric trucks, vans, ride-hailing vehicles, and last-mile delivery vehicles, all of which will be built on a new modular platform.
And it looks like she already has her first client. The company announced during Monday’s press conference that it has formed a global partnership with Uber, according to Pierre-Martin Bosse, vice president of Kia’s new PVB business division.
Not only will the basic electric powertrain be modular — similar to other skateboard-style designs that have become popular throughout the industry — but the tops of these vehicles will be as well. What this looks like in practice, according to Kia, are vehicles with a fixed driver’s cab in which the rest of the cabin can be swapped out.
![Kia Commercial Van EV PBV lineup](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/kia-pv-lineup.jpeg?w=300)
Kia PBV model lineup. Image credits: Kia
These cabins (Kia calls them “life modules”) attach to the chassis using both mechanical couplings and electromagnets, though Kia has been light on details about how this works.
Kia has been light on specifications, but has said it is building a dedicated manufacturing plant in South Korea that it claims will be operational in 2025. Kia expects its annual capacity to reach 150,000 vehicles but has said this could grow to 300,000 globally. .
![Kia PV5 electric concept at CES 2024](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/kia-pv5-electric-concept.jpg?w=300)
Image credits: Kirsten Korosek
The first model to be built will be the Kia PV5, a futuristic-designed three-row van scheduled to hit the road in 2025 with a price tag of around $35,000. Kia also showed off renders of a larger version (PV7) due in 2027 and a smaller, more compact Smart Car option (PV1). The company shared that it plans to release a robotaxi version in 2028, and that vehicles built on the platform may eventually be available to ordinary consumers.
The vehicles appearance is stark and somewhat utilitarian. None of them are remotely adorable like the company of brothers Hyundai Staria van that catches the eye. Design-wise, it’s not all that different from what struggling electric vehicle startup Canoo has spent the past few years promising to deliver on a large scale. Hyundai and Canoo once shared a partnership that was suddenly called off by the CEO of the EV startup, who made Vague hints at the time About protecting his company’s intellectual property.
This post has been updated with details from Kia’s CES 2024 press conference.