AUTO

Kia’s PV5 Electric Van Just Made Guinness History With 430 Miles on Single Charge with Max Payload

October 28, 2025

The electric PV5 electric Cargo van covered 693.38 km (430.84 mi) on one charge while carrying its maximum authorised payload of 665 kg.
The attempt lasted 22 hours 30 minutes on public roads, including urban and extra-urban loops with elevation changes of ~370 m.
In internal testing Kia found that the van’s range drops by only about 1.5 % per extra 100 kg of payload, showing efficient engineering in commercial use.

What happens when a light-duty electric van hauls its full load and refuses to quit until it’s clocked nearly 430.84 miles (693 kilometres) on one charge? That’s exactly what the Kia PV5 electric Cargo van did.

On September 30, 2025, the Kia PV5 electric Cargo van Long Range 4-door variant, powered by a 71.2 kWh battery, covered 430.84 miles (693.38 kilometers) north of Frankfurt, Germany. It carried its full authorized payload of 1466 pounds (665 kilograms) the entire way. The drive lasted 22 hours and 30 minutes on public roads that threw just about everything at it, including traffic lights, roundabouts, and nearly 1214 feet (370 meters) of elevation change.

_{Kia PV5 Cargo electric van driving on a country road after breaking a Guinness World Record for 693 km (430 mi) on one charge.}

For anyone running delivery routes or managing fleets, range isn’t some side feature. It’s part of the daily math. The fact that this electric van can keep going for almost two full workdays on a single charge. Marc Hedrich, President and CEO of Kia Europe, explained, gives operators a real edge in planning and efficiency.

Usually, electric light commercial vehicles lose range fast once they’re fully loaded. But Kia’s data shows that for every extra 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of cargo. The PV5 electric van only dropped by roughly 1.5% in range. That’s impressive because it means this record wasn’t some lucky run. It proved the van was built for real, everyday work. The kind where reliability matters more than headlines.

And to keep everything above board, independent inspectors from TÜV Hessen and Buck Vermessung supervised the run. They verified the load and monitoring the entire route with GPS and in-cabin cameras. So no lab tricks here, just a van, a full payload, and a long day on real roads.

Let’s pull back a little and explain some of the technical terms.

“Payload” means the weight the vehicle is authorised to carry. In this case 665 kg for that 4-door 71.2 kWh variant.
“Range” means how far the vehicle can travel on a single full charge (in this case confirmed at 693.38 km).
These two combined, full payload + record range, hit a level that many operators would have thought risky or impossible.

George Barrow (commercial vehicle journalist) said, “I was seriously impressed by how far the Kia PV5 can go: more than 430 miles (693km) on a single charge and with a full payload. That’s no small feat, and I have a feeling this record won’t be easy to beat! The PV5 and Christopher were great teammates for this challenge, and I’m proud to have been part of a record that pushes the boundaries for electric vans.”

And Christopher Nigemeier, senior engineer at HMETC (Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center), added, “It became a friendly competition between us — who could squeeze the most out of each kilowatt-hour. In the end, it was the vehicle itself that impressed us both.”

Drivers celebrate beside the Kia PV5 Cargo electric van after completing the Guinness World Record run.

Driver and engineer prepare inside the Kia PV5 Cargo electric van before the Guinness World Record run.

From a business and engineering standpoint, here’s the takeaway. The PV5 is the first electric vehicle in Kia’s PBV line, built on the Electric-Global Modular Platform for Service (E-GMP.S). That structure allows it to be adapted for different uses like cargo, passenger, chassis cab, or even wheelchair-accessible versions.

It gives companies and fleet operators freedom to tailor the van to their needs. The cargo version handled the record drive. This proves Kia is entering the commercial segment with serious intent.

Which leads to another point. For fleet managers who dread “range anxiety”, the worry that EVs won’t get through the day when loaded, or that downtime for charging will kill productivity, this record is a quiet declaration that eLCVs are maturing. The PV5’s performance under real driving and full load suggests EV vans are closer to being “just business-ready” than many might’ve thought.

Here’s the thing. That record run was done under real driving conditions, yes, but still carefully managed. The route was chosen, the driving was deliberate, the van started with a full charge, and everything from the charging port to the cargo doors was sealed until the end.

In everyday business use, you’d be dealing with traffic, weather changes, temperature swings, and drivers with different habits. Those factors always matter. Still, the fact that this van came that close to real-world usage is what stands out. The gap between electric and traditional vans keeps getting smaller, and that’s something worth paying attention to.

_{Kia PV5 Cargo electric van driving at dawn during Guinness World Record 693 km run in Germany.}

The Kia PV5 Cargo’s Guinness World Records title for “the greatest distance travelled by a light-duty battery-powered electric van with maximum payload on a single charge” (693.38 km / 430.84 mi) stands as a very strong signal in the eLCV market.

Businesses evaluating EV vans should pay attention. The old excuse of “but can it handle a full load?” is running out of road.