Taking your commercial and van fleet electric with the new Kia PV5 Lease

The new Kia PV5 van lease - Taking your commercial and van fleet electric

A swathe of good news stories have been hitting the BBC recently, with yet another yesterday propagating the growth of electric charge points in the UK.

As the article mentions, the South East of England is experiencing some incredible growth in EV infrastructure, with some 2,000 public chargers installed between 2024 and 2025, taking the region to just over 9,000. Not unlike other parts of the UK, the local councils - Kent, Sussex and Surrey - are all making firm commitments to improve the locality with more accessible vehicle chargers utilising the LEVI scheme from the Government.

Local councils are now afforded some beneficial grants in order to improve EV charging for personal and business customers in the locality, especially for those who do not have off-road charging abilities. With the office for Zero Emissions aiming to push this politically, it is the council which makes the rational economic and practical decisions to implement this.

Making sure this takes place is a big confidence boost for those UK drivers yet to take the plunge into a BEV. As the stats at Zap Map indicate the near-80,000 devices in just under 40,000 locations now equates to nearly 115,000 individual connections for charging your EV! The days of “there are not enough chargers” are ending.

One area which does need addressing in the UK is the commercial and van aspect of the market. While cars have grown through company car and salary sacrifice schemes, along with a range of retail and personal offers in the new and used EV sector, the movement for the van drivers of the UK has been somewhat staccato.

While we often use the statistics from SMMT (The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) for passenger vehicles, it is rare that we use the commercial and LCV data within our news and views section. But with Kia about to enter the market with what appears to be a class-leading solution, we thought it was about time we started to provide some coverage on an equally important aspect of the motor industry.

For March 2025, SMMT reported that 3,897 BEV options below 3.5t were registered and some 318 options of 3.5 - 4.25t were registered. Compared to cars this is a little bit lower but this is perhaps likely to happen when the advantages of going electric are a little more limited.

With many limited companies, small and big, diesel has been the foremost choice for their van fleet. In the SME market particularly, having a new van on lease or via purchase has offered some great benefits such as the finance and maintenance rentals able to be wholly deductible against Corporation Tax, the VAT on these elements can be wholly reclaimed (unlike the 50% on a car) and many brands have improved their engines to ensure more efficiency, as well as comfort features like automatic transmission. But as our all-electric van page sets out , there are still some good reasons to go electric with your next new van.

The Kia group, a South Korean motoring powerhouse, are looking to tap into those businesses considering whether to green with their next new van. Even the SMMT group noted the big investment and commitment in their latest article further to the official launch at the Commercial Vehicle Show.

With Kia looking to add around 60 sales and service branches around the UK, this is by no means an after-thought or simple addition to the Kia manufacturer; this is about to become a real competitor in the UK., with actual orders expected to start at these centres around October - December 2025.

For options like the VW ID.Buzz Cargo, Ford E-Transit custom and the E-Transporter, there is some very real competition afoot with the Kia LCV. With the Government continuing to commit to grants for small and large vans there are some good financial reasons for continuing to supply these in the UK leasing market.

“Ground-breaking Innovation” so says the Kia website, the new PV5 is a product aimed at combining a vehicle suitable for work and life. There will be a number of options to choose from including a PV5 Cargo (a true van), the Crew (a double-cab van), the Passenger (a multiple people carrier) and the WAV (a wheelchair accessible people carrier).

It is the PV5 Cargo, which we are most interested in, with this being a true like for like comparison to the van deals. Two versions of the Cargo will launch including:

•  FWD SR - this standard range option will have a 51.5 kWh battery which offers 90kW via the single motor, utilises a 400V charging infrastructure, capable of 7 hour charging on a 7kW AC unit and around 20-25 minutes for a rapid charging session for 10 - 80% on a 150kW charge point. This van is set to offer around 180 miles of range. The van delivers 16.3 sec 0 - 62 times, 84mph top speeds, has a 4.4m(cubed) cargo volume and has a 790kg payload. This van can tow 450kg (braked). Service intervals are every 24 months or 20,000 miles (whichever lands sooner); and     

•  FWD LR - this long range option will have a 71.2 kWh battery which offers 120kW via the single motor, utilises a 400V charging infrastructure, capable of 10 hour charging on a 7kW AC unit and around 30 minutes for a rapid charging session for 10 - 80% on a 150kW charge point. This van is set to offer around 247 miles of range. The van delivers 12.5 sec 0 - 62 times, 84mph top speeds, has a 4.4m(cubed) cargo volume and has a 690kg payload. This van can tow 750kg (braked). Service intervals are every 24 months or 20,000 miles (whichever lands sooner).

Kia will be launching 2 specifications on the PV5 including:

•  Essential - this includes 16” wheels, LED lights, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors, body coloured bumpers, rain sensing wipers, air conditioning, start/stop button with smart entry, LED cabin light, 12.9” touchscreen navigation, Apple CarPlay, 7.5” driver display screen, OTA functionality, front/rear parking sensors, reversing camera, forward-collision avoidance, lane keep assist, lane following assist, Thatcham cat 1 alarm and smart key; and   

•  Plus -  this adds electrically folding door mirrors, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, V2L capability, wireless phone charger, rear cross traffic collision avoidance, safe exit warning and an optional heat pump.

The key colours include clear white, white pearl, midnight black, cityscape green, steel grey and mint green. For more information on the new Kia van head to the Kia website .

Need more help and advice on an electric van?

Head to the Kia brand website to build your perfect option or just get in touch with our team on 01942 910 001 or by emailing us at [email protected]