The Kia PV5 WKNDR Is A Look At The Future Of #VanLife

This futuristic, vowel-phobic electric van concept comes kitted out for whatever #outdoors #lifestyle #activities its owners might partake in

Mike Bartholomew

06 Nov 2024

Overlanding – the act of kitting out a vehicle with whatever you might need for a few days’ adventure and heading into the wilderness – has been an increasingly prevalent theme at the SEMA show, with more and more concepts outfitted with roof tents, knobbly tyres, kitchenettes and so on cropping up each year. This year, there’s one based on a vehicle that’s not even on sale yet – the Kia PV5.

The PV5 was first shown off early this year as a futuristic looking electric van, and a production version’s set to debut next year with both cargo and passenger configurations. Before that, though, Kia has shown off the PV5 WKNDR concept, which we assume is short for ‘Weekender’.

Designed to appeal to the category of overlanders that prefer things like lifted Mercedes Sprinters, it turns the cargo-carrying PV5 concept into a mini-abode designed for, well, weekenders in the wilderness.

In the back is a storage system that Kia calls the ‘Gear Head’, which apparently makes the most of the interior storage space while still keeping everything accessible from the outside. Supposedly, it can also be turned into a mobile pantry and cooking area.

Solar panels on the roof provide energy for the various auxiliary systems, as do the ‘hydro turbine’ wheels which recharge things like an on-board compressor. That can be used for the likes of tyre inflation and blowing up mattresses.

There are pop-top sleeping quarters, and what looks like a highly modular cabin with rotating seats and a steering wheel that folds up and out of the way, presumably so there’s more space for someone in a faded flannel shirt to sit with an acoustic guitar and break out Wonderwall for the sixth time that night. Knobbly tyres and underbody cladding complete the full overlander look.

It’s joined on Kia’s stand at SEMA by another equally vowel-averse overland-inspired concept, the EV9 ADVNTR, based on the enormous production EV9. Whether we’ll see anything like the WKNDR emerge when the PV5 goes into production next year remains to be seen, but it’s about time there was a new factory take on the Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear formula.

The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.