{"id":183893,"date":"2026-04-02T22:17:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183893\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:17:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:17:30","slug":"kia-unveils-first-of-its-kind-pv5-wav-new-york-ev-taxi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183893\/","title":{"rendered":"Kia unveils &#8216;first-of-its-kind&#8217; PV5 WAV New York EV taxi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t<img width=\"1400\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Kia-PV5-WAV-EV-New-York-taxi-1.jpeg\" class=\"skip-lazy wp-post-image\" alt=\"Kia-PV5-WAV-EV-New-York-taxi\"  decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/guides\/kia-pv5\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PV5 WAV New York EV<\/a> is a new electric taxi and rideshare concept Kia introduced at the New York Auto Show.<\/p>\n<p>Meet the Kia PV5 WAV New York EV Taxi<\/p>\n<p>Is Kia finally bringing its electric van to the US? The PV5 WAV New York Taxi concept will \u201cdemonstrate its potential as the United States\u2019 first-of-its-kind PV5-based electric wheelchair-accesible taxi and rideshare offering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kia teamed up with leading US WAV (Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle) company, BraunAbility, to develop the new EV taxi concept.<\/p>\n<p>The PV5 WAV New York Taxi and Rideshare concept is designed as a more sustainable, ADA-compliant vehicle for wheelchair users.<\/p>\n<p>\tAdvertisement &#8211; scroll for more content<\/p>\n<p>Based on the PV5, Kia\u2019s first electric van, the concept is modified with a ramp that extends from the rear. Inside, the PV5 WAV includes integrated tiedowns and restraints to keep wheelchairs in place. The real question is: Will Kia actually bring it to life?<\/p>\n<p>Kia has already <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/2025\/08\/13\/kias-first-electric-van-unboxed-ready-to-take-on-the-world\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">launched the PV5<\/a> in both Passenger and Cargo variants in Europe, South Korea, and other global markets.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\"  alt=\"Kia-PV5-WAV-EV-New-York-taxi\" data-height=\"900\" data-id=\"462124\" data-link=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/?attachment_id=462124\" data-url=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/Kia-PV5-WAV-EV-New-York-taxi-2.jpg?quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" data-width=\"1349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Kia-PV5-WAV-EV-New-York-taxi-2.jpg\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\"  alt=\"Kia-PV5-WAV-EV-New-York-taxi\" data-height=\"2729\" data-id=\"462125\" data-link=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/?attachment_id=462125\" data-url=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/Kia-PV5-WAV-EV-New-York-taxi.jpg?quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" data-width=\"4096\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Kia-PV5-WAV-EV-New-York-taxi.jpg\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s been <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/2026\/02\/03\/kias-electric-van-shows-up-in-the-us-again-but-this-one-is-different\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">spotted in the US<\/a> on several occasions, Kia has yet to confirm if it will bring the electric van to the US.<\/p>\n<p>Kia said it\u2019s already gathering feedback from wheelchair users and other mobility advocates to expand real-world testing in New York. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"512\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Kia-PV5-EV-variants.jpeg\" alt=\"Kia-PV5-EV-van\" class=\"wp-image-426376\"  \/>Kia PV5 tech day (Source: Kia)<\/p>\n<p>Kia and BraunAbility will work with government agencies, fleet operators, disability advocacy organizers, and others to \u201cgather additional input and refine the vehicle based on feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can think of no better place to unveil our production-ready concept than one of the most iconic taxi markets in the world, and Kia is looking forward to continually collaborating with BraunAbility on the PV5 WAV offer sustainable mobility to more users,\u201d Sangdae Kim, Head of Kia\u2019s PBV Division, said at the event.<\/p>\n<p>You can check out Kia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiamedia.com\/us\/en\/media\/pressreleases\/24573\/kia-and-braunability-unveil-an-all-electric-wheelchair-accessible-taxi-concept-for-new-york\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PV5 WAV New York Taxi<\/a> concept at The New York Auto Show, running from April 3 to April 12.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/electrek.co\" aria-label=\"Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-source-badge-dark\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google-preferred-source-badge-dark.png\" alt=\"Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"google-preferred-source-badge-light\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google-preferred-source-badge-light.png\" alt=\"Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer-affiliate\">FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/about\/#affiliate\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The PV5 WAV New York EV is a new electric taxi and rideshare concept Kia introduced at the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-183893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-headlines","10":"tag-new-york-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}