Purpose Built Vehicles: Back to the future
The return of the purpose built… van. A report on Kia’s ambitions

Purpose Built Vehicles: Back to the future

At CES 2024, Kia presented its “Platform Beyond Vehicle,” a purpose-built-vehicle (PBV) platform by another name (and by the same acronym). The Verge commented, Kia's range of “PBVs kind of resemble boring blobs: minivans with flat fronts, minimal overhangs, and an overall boxy design that screams ‘utility.’”

It was a notable launch for two reasons - but not those you might expect. Let me first suggest three alternate headlines for Kia’s news.


Alternate headline 1: "Kia joins Geely in making custom taxis"

Taxis and wheelchair-accessible vehicles, just like campers, motorhomes, and temperature controlled vans (as you might see from Ocado Group ), customarily have been versions of popular light commercial vehicles (LCVs) - modified by third-parties “in partnership” with the OEMs. It’s a synergistic business model focused on the unique needs of smaller customer groups. Most large OEMs couldn’t have been bothered with the low volumes (and margins) in this business, but they supported small(ish) converters and coachbuilders in their efforts.

Passenger-carrying use-cases have required purpose-specific vehicles for over a century. London taxis have been custom-built since 1908, and a decade ago, the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group bought Manganese Bronze, London Taxi's insolvent low-volume manufacturer, subsequently launching the “London Electric Vehicle Company" in 2017. Today, Geely builds thousands of LEVC taxis every year, just as Mahindra builds thousands of electric “last-mile” vehicles (rickshaws), Toyota builds the JPN taxi, Volkswagen has built several hundred vans for MOIA ridepooling operations, and Zoox intends to do the same.

Purpose-built, passenger-carrying vehicles abound already

Alternate headline 2: “Kia solicits Uber for market research"

Kia also announced an MoU with Uber at CES. This, too, isn’t big news. Similar Uber “deals” have previously been announced between Uber and Hyundai in 2016, with Mercedes in 2017, and with Arrival in 2021 - all to no avail. Kia has also previously announced deals with ???????(Kakaomobility) and others. Given that most e-commerce and ridehailing companies don't own, or even intend to own fleets, it’s easy to be misled by the nature of the announcement.

The appeal of these deals is not necessarily the ridehailing company as a major fleet customer, but as a supplier of data: how many passengers, how many trips per hour/day/week, length of breaks, total and average journey distance etc. Since manufacturers know preciously little about the end-consumer (or user) of their vehicles, the sharing company becomes its market research support.

Vehicles purpose-built for Uber have been part of the rumor mill for close to a decade.

Alternate headline 3: “Inspired by VW, Kia enters the van market”

The idea of a purpose-built logistics vehicle is as old as the spoked wheel itself -its invention “enabling the efficient transport of crops and resources” in ancient Mesapothamia, as told by historians.

Some five-and-a-half millennia later, the original Volkswagen Bulli (T1) was conceived as a platform with many uses - just like Kia’s PBV (Title image). The T1 and T2 were available in countless versions, based on the idea of a stretchable, modular Beetle platform, a concept that remains a principle for efficient manufacturing within OEMs today.

Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) take the concept just a bit further. They integrate energy storage (now, a battery and not a fuel tank) and motors into the platform, leading to fewer parts, higher variability, and simpler manufacturing. Volkswagen , GM, Foxconn, CATL, and most any other current and future EV manufacturer will base their vehicles on so-called “skateboards”.

Notably, Kia has suggested that its PBV platform, with nine potential variants, is different in that certain variability may be offered to the fleet user, not just the manufacturer (“we have shifted the decision-making standard to the customer”).

“Skateboard” modular platforms are the basis for every future EV - just as the Beetle was a half century ago

Shortly after Kia’s press conference, I suggested they “may have stolen the show - so far”. No, I wasn’t blinded by Volkswagen’s lacklustre and maligned press conference announcing voice-controlled ChatGPT access, bored by HydrogenHyundai’s presser of non-announcements, or amused by Honda ’s “Zero Series”.

Two things made Kia’s announcement significant:

  1. Vans: Although Kia has no experience with commercial vehicles (and sister Hyundai has limited models and success with it), they have launched into a new segment, developing a light commercial vehicle and fleet-management experience, “with advanced software solutions based on [our] software-to-everything, or SDx, strategy.” The vehicles will offer or integrate with fleet management on “battery charge levels, routes, schedules, and breaks.” Leasing, fleet management, OEMs, and startups have been dancing around full integration for their vans for a decade. Let’s hope this marks a true step forward for the software-defined vehicle.
  2. Inspiration: I was truly grateful that visionary thinking has once again entered the realm of OEM product presentations at CES. The last few years have been rather anaemic from the OEMs. Kia’s Karim Antoine Habib in turn showed a mobility world beyond the vehicle (watch from 37’15) that “offers users a blank canvas to reimagine their lifestyles and workstyles.” Check out the autonomous pods and the integration with infrastructure, as well as the rationale for the group’s clever 80% acquisition of Boston Dynamics .

Connected autonomous, electric… it’s back to the future for Hyundai-Kia

Since the early days of The Mobility Revolution, we’ve been suggesting that the shift to shared, electric and (potentially) autonomous vehicles “will spark a renaissance of creativity and boldness in the design of vehicles,” with advances in mass-customization and 3D-printing contributing as well. We also said that shared applications especially will be “significantly shifting the product design specification toward durability and utility.” Other consultancies have followed our way of thinking as well, and the Arrival (excuse the pun) of Zoox , Canoo , and others bore out our collective thesis.

It’s not a new concept, but with the PBV, its time may have come - once again.

Neckermann Strategic Advisors, The Mobility Revolution, and the dawn of PBVs

Lukas is Managing Director of Neckermann Strategic Advisors, a boutique consultancy founded in 2013 with a unique focus on #mobility and #smartcities. He is an advisor to multiple companies across mobility, a lecturer at TU-Berlin and the IMO-HSG | Institute for Mobility, and the (co-)author of several books and research studies, including the #mobilityrevolution.

If they actually deliver what they promise, I'll be near the head of the line.

Excellent exegesis. The only thing missing is Borroni-Bird and Burns on "Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st century," the purpose built Nissan NV 200, Brightdrop, Toyota e-Pallette, perhaps some others. Headlines passing in the night. How about one vehicle capable of doing it all: Canoo. Just a thought.

Cormac McKay

CSRD Compliance Specialists & Business Strategist in Transport & Logistics

10 个月

Let's just hope it happens ?? Very disappointed withToyota Motor Corporationn who a few years ago showed off the highly impressive E-palette mobility solution at CES and unfortunately we haven't seen much progress, The general public is getting tired of vaporware and as Elon says "prototypes are easy, production is hard" fingers crossed for PBV higher capacity vehicles are needed to promote Autonomous Electric SharedMobility as a viable alternative to undesirable traditional public transit and to make Ride-Sharing (proper Journey sharing) possible so naysayers can't just dismiss RoboTaxis as just another form of privileged single occupancy travel. https://media.toyota.co.uk/toyota-launches-new-mobility-ecosystem-concept-vehicle-ces-2018/

Merlin Stevenson

ENABLING YOU TO SHAPE A BETTER TOMORROW // #Mobility #MyHappyPlace #DrivenByExcellence

10 个月

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. insightful as always ???? Particularly your take on buying in on the data. It will be really interesting so see how they will build up and handle their special purpose vehicle business and network with converters. Will they go for a more a “factory built” solitution, selling a final product and therefore having to cover more regulations and processes (service) or will rather play the role of the supplier selling their platform to converters making the final product potentially not a KIA anymore (e.g. some Mobile homes have a HYMER badge). What do you think? Both ways have their perks and can be run in parallel. But the key to success will be having a smooth process for customers and converters.

Olivier Roubi

Electrifying Logistics, one truck at a time

10 个月

Very well summarized Lukas Neckermann

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