The Kia PV5 is taking over Europe as the best-selling small electric van
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- Kia PV5 captured 37% of Europe's small (C-segment) electric van market in the first half of 2026, ranking as the best-selling small e-van in 12 countries, per ACEA figures cited in the report.
- The PV5 topped small EV van sales in the UK (3,361 units) and Germany (2,206 units), and was the best-selling van across all engine types in Denmark (1,222), the Netherlands (1,196), Norway (739), and Sweden (1,414).
- In five countries the PV5 already exceeds 50% of C-segment electric van sales: Denmark 63%, Ireland 62%, Sweden 59%, Finland 58%, and the UK 54%, according to the source.
- Kia registered 13,166 PV5s in the first half of 2026 and sold over 1,000 electric vans in a single UK month for the first time in July, a split of 784 PV5 Cargo and 235 PV5 Passenger units.
- The PV5 Cargo set a Guinness World Record in October 2025 by traveling 693.38 km (430.84 miles) on a single charge, and a commenter notes the standard PV5 offers 20% more cargo space and 10% more payload than the extended Ford Transit Connect.
- Kia Europe COO Sjoerd Knipping called the customer response "overwhelming," and Kia UK president Paul Philpott expects momentum to continue with upcoming PV5 variants — a 7-seater (2-2-3), Prime, and Cargo High Roof — plus the larger PV7 launching in 2027 and PV9 by 2030.
- Kia is now the second-most-popular EV brand in the UK year-to-date and third in the electric light commercial vehicle market, with a stated target of selling 232,000 PBVs by the end of the decade.
Why it matters: Kia has turned a brand-new electric van into the category leader in under a year, grabbing more than a third of Europe's small e-van market and over 50% in five countries — a pace that has already pushed Kia into third place in the UK's electric LCV market and forced rivals like Ford (whose Transit Connect the PV5 outsizes) to compete on a vehicle that didn't exist 12 months ago.
![Kia’s larger electric van caught with less camo ahead of its ‘big’ debut [Images]](https://electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/08/Kia-PV7-caught.jpeg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1400)
![The Kia PV5 is getting a bigger sibling: Here’s our first look at the PV7 [Video]](https://electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/06/Kia-PV7-EV-van-first-look.jpeg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1400)
