The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2025
Kia's PV5 WKNDR wins Red Dot Best of the Best 2025 by turning a van into a platform
Kia's PV5 WKNDR electric adventure van — gear stored outside in a 'gear head' that becomes a kitchen — takes Red Dot Design Concept 2025's top honor.
Kia
What it had to solve
Kia's Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) strategy treats EVs as flexible bases for work and life. The PV5 WKNDR concept, first shown at the 2024 SEMA Showcase, asked how a van could serve adventure travel — and the creative leap was to move storage outside the vehicle.
How it works
Kia's PV5 WKNDR Concept is a Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV)-based electric adventure van, first unveiled at the 2024 SEMA Showcase and designed to move seamlessly from city streets to rugged terrain. At the Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2025, it received the competition's highest distinction, Best of the Best, while the Concept PV1, Concept EV2, Concept PV7 and Concept PV5 were each named winners.
The creative core is the 'gear head': a first-of-its-kind, sheltered off-board storage solution that keeps gear outside the vehicle when stationary, freeing the interior while keeping equipment easy to reach. The pod can be transformed into a mobile pantry, letting users 'cook with a view', and the van's flexible interior can be customized through a plug-and-play rail system.
The WKNDR is designed to be self-sufficient: integrated solar panels and unique hydro-turbine wheels recharge the batteries, and an onboard compressor handles everything from adjusting tire pressure on the trail to inflating space-saving mattresses at camp. Lifted with off-road tires, it reads as an escape pod for long weekends in nature.
Kia said the recognition validated its 'Opposites United' design philosophy — blending technology and nature, practicality and emotion. Executive Vice President Karim Habib described the five awards as a proud moment and evidence of the thoughtful innovation Kia invests in every model, as the brand pushes its PBV lineup toward sustainable, user-centered mobility.
Why it lands
- Moving storage outside the vehicle freed the interior and created a distinctive, visible feature.
- The gear head doubling as a mobile kitchen gave one component two jobs and a shareable story.
- Solar panels and hydro-turbine wheels made the van self-sufficient instead of merely electric.
- The concept gave Kia's PBV line an emotional adventure identity beyond logistics.
What it did
It earned the highest honor at Red Dot Design Concept 2025 — Best of the Best — while four other Kia concepts (PV1, PV5, PV7, EV2) won in the Cars and Motorcycles category. Kia's head of global design called the five awards proof of the 'Opposites United' philosophy, and the concept became the flagship of Kia's adventure-lifestyle design story.
What you can take
When a category is defined by one use, redesigning its boundary — moving storage from inside to outside the vehicle — opens new configurations and a new emotional story without adding complexity.
Since then
The PV5 WKNDR first appeared at SEMA 2024, and the Red Dot Best of the Best arrived in July 2025 as Kia pushed its PBV lineup — with the production PV5 already on sale and PV1, PV7 and EV2 following as concepts. The award was covered in Red Dot's Design Concept yearbook and Kia's official channels, and the concept continued to anchor Kia's design showcases as the flagship of its adventure-lifestyle and sustainability messaging.
Sources
- Red Dot Design Award: Kia PV5 WKNDR
- Kia design triumphs at Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2025 with five awards and top honor for PV5 WKNDR
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