Kia is adding a 71.2 kWh long-range battery to its PV5 Chassis Cab lineup, sitting alongside the existing 51.5 kWh mid-range option to give businesses and fleets more flexibility for covering longer distances between charges.
The Chassis Cab remains the conversion-focused member of Kia’s Platform Beyond Vehicle lineup, which also includes Cargo and Passenger PV5 variants, and stands as Kia’s first fully electric dedicated chassis-cab platform designed to serve as a foundation for a wide range of professional vehicle conversions.
Range That Depends on the Build
Actual range with the 71.2 kWh battery will vary based on the specific conversion fitted to the vehicle; as a reference point, the L2H1 Cargo variant launched in 2025 delivers up to 416 kilometers WLTP with the same battery.
The long-range version supports 120 kW DC fast charging, taking roughly 30 minutes to charge from 10-80%, or about 6 hours 30 minutes for a full 10-100% charge on an 11 kW AC connection. Kia positions the added capacity as particularly useful for fleets running longer or less predictable daily routes, or those without reliable access to convenient charging, letting them get more range out of the same compact base vehicle.
Erhan Eren, Director of PBV at Kia Europe, said commercial customers need solutions that match how they actually operate, and that the new battery option gives businesses more room to balance distance, charging access and conversion needs within a single compact electric platform. Final range and payload will still depend on the completed conversion, specification, load and operating conditions.
PV5 Chassis Cab, Built for Tight Spaces, Ready for Conversion
Despite the added battery capacity, the Chassis Cab keeps its sub-five-meter dimensions and best-in-class 5.5-meter turning radius, making it suited to city streets, depots, building sites and other tight environments, with an exposed rear chassis serving as the basis for a wide range of professional body types.
Built on Kia’s PBV-dedicated E-GMP.S architecture, the platform was developed alongside European conversion partners to support dropside and tipper bodies for construction, farming and municipal work, three types of box van for e-commerce and parcel delivery, refrigerated vans for grocery and temperature-sensitive logistics, and specialist bodies for utilities and field service work.
A High Box conversion can offer up to eight cubic meters of cargo space, though Kia frames that as an example of the platform’s flexibility rather than a fixed configuration — the final body, equipment and certification depend on the conversion partner and local market requirements, letting customers start with Kia’s electric base vehicle and work with a specialist to build out the finished vehicle.
Strong Early Demand in Europe
The expanded battery lineup follows strong momentum for PV5 in Europe, where the model recorded 13,116 registrations in the first half of 2026 and captured 37% of electric C-segment van sales, making it the segment’s top seller.
The 71.2 kWh long-range PV5 Chassis Cab rolls out across European markets during 2026, with timing, specifications and conversion availability varying by country.
The vehicle carries Kia‘s standard seven-year, 150,000-kilometer warranty, with separate eight-year battery coverage that may vary by market.