Kia signs agreement with Uber for PBVs: knowledge sharing and cost reduction

We have certainly had no shortage of woolly visions of the future for autonomous mobility in the car world over the past decade. Car fairs became ‘mobility shows’ and anyone who did not present a moving living room without a steering wheel did not participate for a long time. In recent years, the tide has turned somewhat and car manufacturers have become more cautious with visions of completely self-driving vehicles, which in practice are more difficult to realize than expected. Moreover, when it comes down to it, many people just want to have a car for themselves.

It is therefore not suddenly incorrect that there is an equally growing need for smart mobility solutions in growing world cities. Kia is one of the few car brands that really makes those kinds of dreams concrete and took the next step this week with its PVB program. ‘PVB’ stood for Purpose Built Vehicles and now suddenly seems to mean Platform Beyond Vehicle, which you can read all about here.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a dream location for these types of solutions, Kia will present, among other things, the very concrete PV5. Just how specific that vehicle is is evident from the fact that a partnership with ride provider Uber has now been announced. ‘Ridehail king’ Uber will tell Kia exactly what people need in the coming years, also (or especially) with drivers. Although autonomy is part of Kia’s PBV plans, it is mainly about multifunctional, widely applicable and therefore very handy vehicles that must work seamlessly with their digital environment. This is surprising, because Uber is built around a digital environment like no other company.

Kia and Uber say they are jointly looking for ways to make the lives of drivers and customers (even) better and easier. “PBVs will play a key role in personalizing mobility, and by partnering with Uber, Kia aims to deliver leading technology with advanced software and services that further enhance the customer experience,” said Kia North America CEO Sean Yoon. concrete solutions: “Drivers are given the opportunity via the Uber platform to purchase various Kia models with an offer specially tailored to them. In this way we stimulate the rollout of electric driving and the achievement of the sustainability goals of both Kia and Uber.” Kias are already offered to Uber drivers in North America through the Kia-Flex program, which will be expanded with the new deal. ‘America First’ applies, but Europe is also mentioned for the future. For Uber, the collaboration should also result in cost savings, through more efficient and widely deployable vehicles and through smart solutions that should prevent those vehicles from being out of use for long periods of time. Interestingly, to reduce costs, Battery as a Service (BaaS) solutions are also being looked at, where the battery is leased for a fixed monthly amount instead of being inextricably linked to a car.

The first real PVB, the Kia PV5, is also part of the deal between Kia and Uber. It seems that Uber will be included in the further development of this vehicle, which should appear in different variants.