PV5 Adventures

Find this pretty amazing. So much automation is in play at the PBV factory in Korea.  The PV5 is designed to be built build robots, and the factory of robots is designed to handle all the different configurations of PV5 (and PV7), including many configurations not seen in Europe. The video is in Korean, click the settings cog and you can get it in English.  Enjoy!

  I've been pretty pleased with the PV5 in general, but one area that Kia are really dropping the ball is software.  There is lots going on in the PV5, and it's using their newest system PLEOS, which is their OS of choice for the foreseeable future. It's however very new, and pretty buggy.  Since I have had the PV5 in April 2026, it's had a couple of big updates, but sadly, nothing noticeable  has really changed, and none of the issues have been addressed.  Some of the things I am seeing; Settings getting reset or lost at random times.  This is not the EU safety systems you can't turn off permanently, but other settings that mysteriously reset themselves at random times. Some things I have had to switch back on: I-Pedal Mode (it often reverts to regular drive more for no obvious reason) Reversing camera grid lines Steering Wheel haptic feedback Volume reduction when reversing. Exterior daytime running lights coming on at dusk in Utility mode when the switch...

Just returned from a medium size UK music festival - Beautiful Days. There are always lots of camper vans. This year however in the sea of boring VW campers sat something very different, a lone PV5! We had at least 30 people come and ask us about the PV5. Various questions, what did we think of it, what was the range like, how much space inside, What's it like to drive. One person I spoke to had one on order, waiting for a delivery date, I answered so many potential buyers questions, i probably should have been on commission from Kia!! Everything worked out great, we slept all weekend in ours, no problems at all. I decided to go with a battery bank to run cool box rather than fight with the somewhat problematic unattended utility mode. The Vango Quadris Air worked great, once we figured out how to best align it to clear the sliding door (hint, align the back edge to the rear of the vehicle) If anyone had any concerns about ground clearance, no problems here, and I saw plenty of VWs...

One of the great design features of the PV5, something I don't seem to recall a single YouTube "reviewer" mention, is how well designed the boot space is. I don't just mean the size of it, which is already huge, I mean the adaptability of it. We are off to a music festival next week, taking the PV5, with the bed platform , and wanted to maximise the space under the bed platform.   What's great about the PV5, and something Kia clearly spent some time working on, is how easy it is to pull the boot floor storage bins out to give you even more volume. The lids slide off, the bins lift out, as do the plastic seperator bars, giving you lots of extra room below. It's a couple of minutes to reconfigure, no tools needed. Here are some pics, including the install of the coombe valley campers bed platform. The Start Slide off the tops Lift out the bins Lift out the divider bars Thats it for the boot floor, the next pics are...

Almost every aspect of my posts so far here has been positive or very positive, the PV5 is a game changer is pretty much every way.  That's not to say some areas don't feel a little rushed to market before they were ready. The biggest and most obvious offender in this area is the PLEOS infotainment system, it's a fork of Google's Android Automotive (not to be confused with their mirroring system called Android Auto).  Hyundai Group (Hyundai, Kia, Genesis) have taken this as their new infotainment system and have thrown all sorts of ridiculous marketing hype at it. The Marketing Hype Here are some of the bold claims made back in 2025: "With Pleos, we will realize cloud mobility, where all means of transportation are connected to software and are constantly evolving" Here is more of their hype: A next-gen infotainment system based on the Android Automotive OS (AAOS), with unique, customizable and user-friendly features Allows for maximum openness and scalabilit...

Kia off course will sell you an overpriced adapter, with barely anything inside other than a resistor.  You really don't need to spend their silly money. This came from AliExpress for £17 delivered and works perfectly.  Just make sure you pick one suitable for Kia/Hyundai, and some other manufacturers use different value resistors inside for reasons unknown. Simple as popping open your top (AC) charging socket on the front of the PV5   Plugging this £17 bad boy in: You get a UK and EU 230V mains plug capable of 3.6KhW Perfect for a kettle or induction hob.  Of course you also have one INSIDE the PV5, but this works with the car off and the doors locked with no leads to trail outside.