Kia Connect kooperiert mit Geotab für wegweisende Flottenmanagement-Lösungen. Foto: Kia
Kia is revolutionizing the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market with its new “Platform Beyond Vehicle” concept, whose model range opens up new opportunities for customers in their respective business segments. To provide world-class fleet management for Kia PBVs, Kia Connect, the connected car services subsidiary of Kia Europe, is now partnering with Geotab, one of the world’s leading providers of connected transportation solutions. This strategic collaboration will integrate a range of data solutions with enhanced vehicle technology, innovative systems, route optimization and safety aspects to help improve operational efficiency, safety and profitability.
The Kia PBVs uniquely combine purpose-built electric vehicles with advanced software solutions, over-the-air updates and segment-leading dimensions and charging capacities. The launch of the first PV5 series model is planned for summer 2025.
As part of the cooperation, Geotab will provide a white-label fleet management platform, a fleet manager app, a driver app and in-vehicle infotainment integration for Kia PBVs. The partnership will include additional applications such as advanced EV routing functions with automatic recommendations for charging stops or a digital vehicle key (Digital Key 2.0). In addition, services from the Kia Charge charging service such as usage contracts and billing management will be seamlessly integrated, allowing fleet managers to view and manage all charging invoices differentiated according to the various charging processes such as public charging, charging at home or charging at the depot.
This comprehensive solution offers fleet managers the option of integrating vehicles from other brands into the platform. It also provides them with a complete overview of their operations. At the same time, it enables the integration of the fleet’s own business solutions, including warehouse management and corporate resource planning. On the vehicle side, real-time data provides insight into the vitality of the vehicle, enabling operations to be streamlined, downtime to be reduced and maintenance requirements to be optimized.
The system can be customized to meet the specific needs of each fleet, with the flexibility to determine how information is provided to drivers and fleet managers. The fleet management platform, driver app and vehicle display of the Kia PBVs were jointly developed by Geotab and Kia. This ensures that the data is synchronized between all users and that everyone receives the right information at the right time and in the right place.
The PBVs are part of Kia’s “Plan S” strategy, which also includes the expansion of the electric vehicle range. The brand has developed an innovative battery vehicle platform specifically for these light commercial vehicles, which can be adapted to different wheelbases and can therefore be used for many vehicle sizes, body types and conversions. Kia will provide a warranty of seven years or 150,000 kilometers for all PBVs.
To bring its PBV concept to the road, Kia began construction of a dedicated plant in Korea last year as part of an investment of over three billion euros. A state-of-the-art manufacturing system will enable flexible production and greater customization of the various product types. PBV production capacity will initially be 150,000 units per year and will gradually increase to 300,000 units worldwide.
