Are electric vans a viable option for New Zealand?

Monday, 13 August 2018

Over the next few years electric vans will hit New Zealand in a big way. But are they useful here?

Vans could be poised to make up a significant part of the next wave of electric vehicles to land on our shores, with more manufacturers gearing up their electric commercial offerings.

Mercedes-Benz has announced that the new-generation Sprinter will have an electric version and it is already taking orders in Europe for the smaller eVito, while Volkswagen has just started European deliveries of an electric version of the Crafter.

Renault have beaten both to the punch in Europe by already having the Kangoo Z.E. and Master Z.E. already on sale, while Peugeot and Citroen have Partner and Berlingo electric vans, Iveco offers an (apparently painfully slow) electric Daily and LDV has its EV80. Of all of the electric vans currently available globally, only the Renault Kangoo Z.E. and LDV EV80 are on sale new in New Zealand, while one of the biggest-selling electric vans in Europe - the small Nissan e-NV200 - is available here only as a used import.

Mercedes-Benz is taking orders for the eVito in Europe and is very keen to get it here.

But are electric vans a truly viable option in New Zealand? Particularly as virtually all of them are aimed at usage in large cities, with relatively limited ranges and reduced payloads when compared to their petrol and diesel equivalents.

**READ MORE

Volkswagen has just released an electric version of the new Crafter van in Europe.

* Latest vans carry a lot of high technology

* Hyundai's Kona EV can go 400km on a single charge

Peugeot sell an electric version of the Partner van in Europe, but we won't see an electric Peugot van here until 2020.

* Is a used electric vehicle a risky purchase?**

A small city van, such as the Renault Kangoo Z.E. or Nissan e-NV200, that can sit on a charger between trips are obviously useful in certain local applications, but what about those longer distances that vans often do here?

Jucy used a 24kWh Nissan e-NV200 for its trial, one of the most popular electric vans in Europe.

Local rental company Jucy recently finished a five-month trial that saw a Nissan e-NV200 converted into a campervan driven more than 13,000km to 45 destinations across New Zealand.

Jucy co-founder Dan Alpe said that while the van was able to traverse most of the country efficiently, the trial revealed a few shortcomings with New Zealand's EV infrastructure, particularly in the South Island, that could present significant barriers for wider commercial van usage.

Dan Alpe of Jucy says that the recent trial showed a few gaps in the NZ charging network.

'One of the key findings of the trial was that in some parts of the South Island there are long distances in between vehicle charging stations which our current battery range can't easily traverse,' he said.

'For example, there are no camp grounds between Blenheim and Kaikoura, let alone any charging facilities and only two fast charging stations in the entire West Coast.

The additional weight added turning the Nissan into a camper did reduce its range somewhat.

'This meant the tourists had to stop every 100kms to charge for five hours and, in a number of cases had to knock on the door of a private household to ask to charge their vehicle overnight.'

Alpes says Jucy chose the Nissan van out of necessity more than anything else, as its size wasn't ideal for the company's needs.

Renault NZ has just announced it will sell the large Master Z.E. van here, while the small Kangoo Z.E. is already on sale.

'The challenge with the electric campers at this stage is that we are very limited on vehicle options,' he said.

'The Nissan e-NV200 is a shorter vehicle than we would normally use, meaning we have to start thinking differently about layouts. We have a roof tent on our current prototype vehicle, however due to range limitations, weight and drag suddenly become a real consideration and we have to be very mindful about the impact of all components we put in it.'

LDV has sold Britz ten EV80's to be used as campervans.

As such, the Nissan's range suffered badly with the additions necessary to make it into a camper.

The older model that Jucy uses has a 24kWh battery that is rated for a maximum range (in ideal conditions and unladen, remember) of 170km and loading it up with all the amenities expected in even a small campervan sees a real-world range of under 100km.

NZ Post has a fleet of EVs, including some of the newly-available LDV EV80s.

Following the trial, however, Alpes says Jucy plans to introduce a larger fleet of EVs, with the addition of further ten new generation e-NV200s which the company expects to have ready in time for the coming summer season.

'The next vehicles will be built on a 40kWh variant and combined with all the work we are doing around the reduction of weight and drag we expect to see that range almost double,' he said.

Jucy has teamed up with Massey University to improve the efficiency of their electric campers and has recently applied for government support to fund the local research and development of new EV technologies.

'The trial data showed us there are some key areas we need to focus on, including reducing the weight of the vehicle and increasing the capacity of the battery to allow us to get 200km from each charge,' he said.

And that 200km range is the key, with Alpe saying that, on average, their customers travel approximately 165km a day.

At the larger end of the campervan segment, Tourism Holdings Ltd's Britz camper hire company has just taken delivery of 10 LDV EV80s which it will have ready for the summer season.

The EV80 features a 56kWh battery, with a range of 190km (with a half load on board) as a standard van and LDV's local distributor, Great Lake Motor Distributors (GLMD), estimates a camper will have a range of around 160km.

LDV is also supplying a range of fleets with its EV80 in New Zealand, with the first shipment already sold out.

Aerodrive rentals, NZ Post, Meridian Energy, Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary and City Care are just some of the companies to purchase EV80s, with GLMD holding strong orders for future shipments.

As for the other local distributors, Volkswagen has expressed strong interest in bringing the electric Crafter here, but it is currently still only engineered for LHD production, with RHD not yet confirmed.

Mercedes-Benz is also very interested to get their electric vans into the local market, with the company already taking orders for the eVito in Europe, with the eSprinter scheduled for 2019.

The company has already received enquiries from major fleet companies and Sprinter and Vito becoming available 'only strengthens the potential and our interest in launching locally.'

Renault already offers the Kangoo Z.E, but has just that it will be bringing the Master Z.E, while local Peugeot distributor, Auto Distributors New Zealand, say they fully plan to offer an electric van sometime after 2020.

Nissan, however, says it has received 'no interest from the marketplace' for the e-NV200, neither has it been offered to them.

But while there is going to be an influx of electric vans in the next few years, range will still be the limiting factor, with most manufacturers concentrating on optimising the commercial electric offerings for short-distance urban use.

Electric campervans traversing the length of the country may be a nice idea, but the near future of electric vans is going to focus very much on the city centres.