I Want To Go Off-Grid In Kia's PV5 WKNDR Electric Van

Falling in love with a concept car is setting yourself up to fail. The vast majority of them never become real vehicles, and those that do often end up disappointingly far from their striking original designs. For every BMW i8, we also get about 50 Pontiac Azteks. But love isn't a rational thing, and that's why I want to believe Kia's PV5 WKNDR electric van concept could somehow become a reality.

The PV5 WKNDR made its first appearance at SEMA, the giant aftermarket and performance trade show, earlier this month. But I got to see it for myself last week at the LA Auto Show. And like a good movie, book or album, the fact that I'm still thinking about it a few days later tells me a lot.

The EV9 ADVNTR EV SUV and PV5 WKNDR EV Van

The concept is a #vanlife take on Kia's new Platform Beyond Vehicle program: a family of modular electric work vehicles in different sizes and configurations. Kia has big plans for that program as it expands into the commercial vehicle space; some of the ideas there are pretty wild, including transforming body types, autonomous driving and possibly even crab-walking wheels to deliver cargo to tight areas. We don't know how far Kia will go with those technologies yet, but the Korean automaker clearly wants in on the nascent electrified delivery van and commercial vehicle space.

By comparison, the PV5 WKNDR is almost conventional. But it shows how well this platform could exist when repurposed for a consumer van aimed at off-road and off-grid adventuring. Kia describes it as "an escape pod for extended weekends in nature" and "a Swiss Army Knife on wheels." That's not only because of the big off-road tires, but because the whole interior has been customized to be a kind of mobile living space: the concept comes complete with lounge seats, camping chairs, tables, an extending rooftop tent and more. And you get towing hooks front and rear if other vehicles go sideways, or upside-down, in this case.

While I didn't get to see Kia demonstrate this on-site at the auto show, the van also features solar panels for offboard charging and "hydro turbine wheels" that generate electricity while spinning. That's a clever idea and I'd love to see it get applied to some actual production cars. In fact, this whole concept makes a strong case for an electric off-road machine: when EVs are stationary, they can provide massive amounts of electricity to power campsites, devices and even entire homes. If you apply that idea to a bigger vehicle (with a bigger battery) you can enable a ton of zero-emission power when you go camping. I think Kia's onto something with this concept, and I hope the automaker finds some way to make it a reality.

If you find yourself at the LA Auto Show's public days until the end of this month, go pay this thing a visit. I think you'll get a kick out of it.