The Kia PV7 is a big bus with up to 11 seats and 286 miles of range

Kia has followed up its PV5 electric van with a bigger brother. And while the Passenger variant of that aforementioned PV5 can now be specced with up to seven seats, this new PV7 can accommodate up to nine people in European markets.

To make things even more confusing, an even bigger PV9 will follow in 2029. What’s the betting that one will come with 16 seats before Kia follows it up with the 33-seater PV16?

Anyway, much like its smaller sibling, the PV7 is built on Kia’s new E-GMP.S platform. It’s also pretty futuristic looking with split headlights, two tone paintjobs and LED lights, although you can also spec exposed hinges on the rear doors and even the posher Passenger versions get rugged black plastic wheelarch cladding.

Inside there’s a flat floor and two-tone interior trim for the people-carrying Passenger, and we’re told that in Korea this will be available with up to 11 seats. Crikey. Just nine for the rest of the world, though.

There are 12.9in and 14.6in touchscreen options in there too, with both running an Android Automotive OS-based setup. You can also have removable seating, up to four rows of chairs, plenty of ambient lighting and an optional centre console that doubles as a table when stationary.

Underneath you get a choice of either a 71.5 or 96.2kWh nickel cobalt manganese battery, and there are multiple motor options that drive the front wheels with up to 268bhp. The Long Range Cargo variant apparently gets 286 miles of range on the WLTP cycle. Not bad.

There’s also rapid recharging thanks to the 800-volt architecture, with a 10 to 80 per cent top-up “in the mid-20-minute range” if you can find a 350kW plug. In a first for Kia, there are also two charging points with one at the front and an optional AC socket at the rear. You also get Vehicle-to-Load tech to charge and power electrical devices on the go, while the Cargo van gets a heavy-load driving mode for when you’ve filled it with all of your worldly possessions.

Said Cargo can be had in Long, Compact and High Roof variations, with the former able to carry three Euro pallets at once. Maximum payload capacity for that one is 1,165kg. Oh, and there’s something called the Kia Business Solutions Portal, which we’re told “supports fleet management, charging, maintenance and daily operations”.

This certainly isn’t your lot for PV7 variants though, because Kia is promising 23 different versions in total, including a proper chassis cab and proper ‘conversion models’. The petition for a campervan starts here, folks…