If you’ve got a big family, an outdoorsy habit, or simply too much stuff, there’s a moment in life when you realise an SUV just isn’t cutting it anymore. No matter how convincing the marketing or how easily the rear seats fold, it simply can’t compete with a van when it comes to swallowing bikes, boards, buggies and the general chaos of modern life.

I say this as someone who runs a diesel Volkswagen Transporter day-to-day. Apologies to the planet, but nothing else will take kids, mountain bikes, surfboards and the occasional broken motorcycle without complaint. Vans are unbeatable — and I won’t hear otherwise.

Until now, though, electric commercial vehicles have felt like an afterthought. A few battery packs bolted under an existing chassis, a motor stuffed in wherever it fits, and job done. Ford’s electric Transit models and Citroën’s ë-SpaceTourer are practical enough, but they still feel very much like vans first and EVs second.

“Vans are unbeatable — and I won’t hear otherwise”

The Volkswagen ID Buzz was a true leader and the first to really try and charm lifestyle buyers, but it remains expensive, oddly inefficient and — whisper it — not actually that spacious inside.

Enter Kia, and its rather serious-sounding Platform Beyond Vehicle architecture. PBV is Kia’s master plan for an entire ecosystem of electric vans, people movers and specialist vehicles, all built from the ground up as EVs. Some will carry cargo, some people, some pizzas, some wheelchairs — and the PV5 Passenger is the first taste of that future.

Sensible money, sensible range

Let’s start with the headline number, because it matters. The Kia PV5 Passenger will kick off at £32,995 in the UK for the entry-level Essential trim. That’s not cheap, but it’s dramatically less than a Volkswagen ID Buzz, and it immediately makes the PV5 feel like a more grounded, realistic proposition.

“Fast enough for motorway work, slow enough to ensure items in the back aren’t pulverised every time the throttle is mashed”

That base model uses a smaller battery and delivers 183 miles of range, which is more than enough for daily duties and short trips. Step up to the larger 71.2kWh battery, priced from £35,995, and range jumps to a much more useful 256 miles on the combined cycle.

That’s competitive with many rival electric SUVs that offer nowhere near the same interior space — and cost significantly more.

Power comes from a single electric motor that drives the front axle and produces 160bhp, which is perfectly adequate for a vehicle designed to move stuff rather than set lap records. Zero to 62mph takes 10.6 seconds, and top speed is limited to 84mph — fast enough for motorway work, slow enough to ensure items in the back aren’t pulverised every time the throttle is mashed.

More importantly, it drives really well. Steering is light, visibility is excellent and it feels far less cumbersome than its size suggests. On the move, the cabin is impressively quiet, even at speed, and it cruises with the sort of refinement you’d normally associate with a large electric saloon rather than a boxy van. I fact, I hopped out of the PV5 and into my VW Transporter following this launch event and was almost deafened on my route home by the embarrassingly agricultural T5.

The joy of space

Right now, Kia is offering the PV5 as both a Passenger model and a Cargo van. The Cargo is very much for trades and fleets, so I focused on the Passenger for this review — because this is the one families will cross-shop against seven-seat SUVs.

And honestly, it makes those SUVs look faintly ridiculous.

The rear seats are genuinely spacious, with enough legroom and headroom for adults to sit comfortably. In higher trims, they’re heated, come with footrests and are surrounded by USB-C ports for keeping phones, tablets and headphones alive on long journeys.

The second row folds flat, too, opening up a huge cargo area for bikes, boards or whatever else your weekend demands. It’s not quite the full seat-removal flexibility of a crew van — but Kia says that level of modularity is coming.

With all seats in place, the PV5 offers 1,330 litres of boot space. Fold the rear seats and that figure balloons to 2,300 litres. For context, that’s more than a Kia EV9 and comfortably beyond what even a Tesla Model Y can manage — and the PV5’s tall, square tailgate makes it vastly easier to load awkward objects.

Sit back and relax

One of the biggest surprises is just how un-van-like the PV5 feels from behind the wheel. Kia has clearly spent time making sure it doesn’t drive like a commercial vehicle, and it shows.

“The rear seats are genuinely spacious”

The bespoke Android Automotive infotainment system is housed in a 12.9-inch central touchscreen, positioned high on the dash for easy glancing. It’s clean, intuitive and allows access to an Android-based app store — particularly handy for commercial users, but equally useful for everyday navigation and media.

There’s also a digital driver display behind the steering wheel handling speed, range and trip info. I’d still like more physical buttons — especially for climate control and muting the endless safety chimes — but the system is far more intuitive than some recent alternatives.

The only oddity is the driving position. Because the battery and electrical hardware sit beneath the floor, you end up sitting much higher than you would in a traditional van, with your hips almost level with the side windows. Passers-by can basically see what trousers you may or may not be wearing.

It also means the legs are outstretched to reach the pedals, like they are in a saloon vehicle, rather than adopting the uber comfortable office chair position of other vans. But this is minor stuff. It’s definitely a more comfortable and technologically advanced experience than most other commercial vehicles on sale , regardless of whether they boast battery packs or an internal combustion engine.

A convincing debut

There are compromises. Charging peaks at 150kW, thanks to a 400V architecture, and there’s no 300-mile version yet. But the PV5 is efficient, predictable and honest about its range — which counts for a lot in real-world use.

More importantly, it’s the first electric van I’ve driven that made me seriously consider ditching diesel. It’s practical, comfortable, sensibly priced and actually enjoyable to live with.

For families, adventurers, classic motorcycle owners and anyone who’s quietly fallen out of love with oversized SUVs, the Kia PV5 feels like a bit of a reset.