Kia pulled the covers off of two wild concepts at the 2024 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show on November 5, the EV9 Adventure and PV5 Weekender, a pair of electric SUVs upfitted with a raft of gear to make them versatile go-anywhere do-anything off-roaders.
The EV9 Adventure, or ADVNTR, is a seven-seat “highly capable EV SUV,” said Andre Franco Luis, Kia advanced design manager, meant to gauge public reaction to a possible off-pavement take on the automaker’s popular sport-utility. The list of trick gear attached to this thing is long, but if we had to start somewhere, it’d be with the three-inch lift versus a stock Kia EV9; and the custom roof rack meant for all manner of accessories, including luggage containers and rooftop tents.
The front and rear fascia have also been redesigned, and the rockers beefed up so they can crash against a rock or two. It all makes for one wild concept sport-ute.
But the show-stealer is the PV5 Weekender, or WKNDR, an out-there-looking segment-crosser – Kia switches between calling it a “van” or a “Purpose-Built Vehicle,” a PBV – that made us immediately think, “Huh, didn’t expect Kia to be the one to bring back the Brubaker Box.” If you haven’t heard of the PV5 before, you’re not alone — we don’t (yet) get this family of new Kia vehicle in our market. The idea behind the Weekender is how a focus on modularity can allow for “versatility of functions and features,” as Luis puts it, something owners could turn into a “multitool on wheels.”
To that end, you’ll see canvas bags, shovels, and other gear strapped to the PV5 WKNDR’s roof rails, part of what it calls its “Gear Head” storage solutioning; an “electrified side rail” with a fold-out cooking galley; and a Westfalia-style rooftop-mounted tent, er, “cozy sleeping nest.” The passenger compartment also comes lined with rails, with locking mounts so whatever you hang on them – be it a phone, clock, or surfboard – doesn’t slide around when things get bumpy.
As you might notice in the promo vids, the centre hub of each wheel remains stationary — it comes with a built-in step to help you reach all that stuff you just loaded on the roof. When parked, the freely spinning “hydro-turbine” blades behind those rims can collect wind energy. There’s also a display-guided winch — a screen next to the thing shows you the real-time force acting on the cable, quelling anxieties about whether it’s going to suddenly snap.
Beyond that, this PV5’s front passenger seat turns into what Kia’s heralding as an industry-first “trail lounger,” to really let you kick back and enjoy nature through, uh, the open door of your EV. Finally, a rooftop-mounted solar-panel array lets the WKNDR recharge its battery while you recharge yours via some sunshine.
Both concepts are about having “serious fun,” says Tom Kearns, chief designer at Kia Design Center America. But neither is anywhere close to production, Luis confirms, and are simply previews of “what could be,” especially the PV5, which is not yet slated to come to the North American market.
Even the accessories aren’t in development, per se, though we’re sure Kia could make them available if they got a warm reception. For what it’s worth, though, the EV9 Adventure is a functional, driving concept, whereas the PV5 Weekender is “more of a showcase,” and so is, uh, a little more “limited.”
What is more readily available from Kia and its partners immediately is the gear stuck to three other Greek-mythology-inspired lightly modified concepts it rolled out at SEMA. Those would be the Sportage ‘Thetis’; the Telluride ‘Zeus’; and the Sorento ‘Gaia.’ Thetis, the goddess of water, gets a Rhino Rack kayak mount; Zeus, the god of thunder, gets a lift and a “thunderous” Borla exhaust; and Gaia, the goddess of Earth, gets light bars, an awning, and a projector screen.
The SEMA show in Las Vegas is, first and foremost, a trade show, where automotive accessory companies show off their newest aftermarket products and try to sign contracts with auto parts stores to carry them. But over the past decade or two, it’s also grown into a hub for automakers themselves to debut what’s coming to their own accessory catalogs. This year’s instalment saw not just Kia, but Toyota, Nissan, and Stellantis roll out some concept cars, too. Look for the lot of them in our upcoming round-up.
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