Kia Shows the Ultra-Cool PV5 WKNDR, a VanLife Concept

• Kia came to SEMA with a reworked concept from CES, the PV5 WKNDR van.

• It was enough to make vanlifers forget about the new VW ID. Buzz, maybe even the Mercedes Sprinter. The Kia concept has a modular interior that makes 150 cubic feet of space downright livable and appealing, even.

• But there was no word on production and it doesn’t look like it would meet government safety standards in its current form. Pity.

It’s torture, really. At least for manbun-wearing, bearded vanlifers.

The PV5 WKNDR that Kia showed at SEMA has all the elements vloggers living on BLM land crave: a slide-out escape pod left rear door porch; a sliding right middle door that reveals a B-pillarless opening that almost doubles in size when you open the right front passenger door; a swivel seat for that right-front passenger; modular racks for gear on the inside; and the list goes on and on.

But looking at the blunt-force-trauma front end, that missing B-pillar, the digital readout above the front winch, and a few other non-IIHS/FMVSS-friendly funktitude, it just doesn’t look like the ultra-cool beatnik hipster WKNDR could ever make production.

Bummer.

The WKNDR is an extension of one of the three electric concepts Kia showed at last January’s CES in Las Vegas. There, the carmaker launched an ambitious plan for fleets of modular commercial electric vans it called EV PBVs, for Purpose Beyond Vehicles.

It showed three such models at CES last January, some of which it said could be swapped out with pickup truck bodies, van bodies, or configured as people haulers. Tracks mounted inside those PBV vans allowed for modularity in cargo hauling, while other uses could be realized by actually swapping out large sections of the vehicles’ bodies.

Kia said production would start in Korea in 2025, and that the vans may come to the US.

Well, here’s one of those theoretical vans, the midsize-ish PV5, and if it doesn’t make you want to go hole up in a national forest somewhere eating recycled soda bread and blogging about it, you should turn in your Teva Sandals.

“The PV5 WKNDR EV VAN features a highly flexible and adaptable modular interior that can be easily and efficiently customized to maximize space and function—akin to a Swiss Army Knife on wheels,” said Kia.

But the question is whether all this modular lifestyle happiness will ever see production, and that question was left unanswered.

What was a lot closer to production, at least in our opinion, was the EV9 ADVNTR Concept EV SUV, which Kia also showed at SEMA. Based on the already electric 2025 Kia EV9 SUV, the ADVNTR looks much simpler to federalize and manufacture.

“Built for serious fun, this 2025 EV9 EV SUV has been refined into the most adventurous SUV Kia has ever imagined,” Kia said.

It has custom front and rear facias, which you’d get in a midcycle facelift anyway, and offroad-ready features like reinforced rocker panels, a three-inch lift, and a more rugged tire and wheel combination. Above, there’s a custom roof rack that can handle everything from standard luggage containers to one of those really expensive roof-mounted tents.

But it’s just not as exciting to look at as the PV5. Dang.

Would you buy a PV5 WKNDR? Let us know in the comments.