Electric vans can deliver at a local level – but significant barriers remain

The Government has demanded an increasing proportion of new car and van sales to be Zero Emissions Vehicles – Alamy

High purchase costs, insufficient charging infrastructure and unclear government messages are the main barriers to electric vehicle adoption, according to last week’s report from the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee Electric Vehicles enquiry.

Sound familiar? On the occasion of the launch of a new Mercedes-Benz eSprinter, can I suggest that the same might be true for battery-electric vans, the market for which is flatlining and in danger of retracting, partly because of hamfisted government regulation and a lot of mixed messages?

Given our obsession with home deliveries, getting more emissions-free electric vans on the road for local work should be an easy win. Shouldn’t it?

Fines for non-compliance

As part of its zero-emissions mandate, the Government has demanded an increasing proportion of new car and van sales to be Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs). This year’s share starts at 22 per cent of cars and 10 per cent of vans. The ZEV share will gradually rise each year to 2030 when the mandate will be 80 per cent of cars and 70 per cent of vans, rising to 100 per cent of each by 2035.

High purchase costs and insufficient charging infrastructure continue to plague electric vehicles – Alamy

Fines for non-compliance start at £15,000 for every car and £9,000 per van this year, rising to £18,000 for the rest of the regulation’s timeframe. While battery electric van market share is not increasing and the Department for Transport (DfT) has altered its own projections for ZEV van sales growth, that draconian mandate is still going ahead.

There’s a trading scheme which allows manufacturers to “bank” years when they are ahead of the targets, but there are limits to the amount manufacturers can trade their way out of their mandate obligations.

Why electric vans matter

Outside of heavily laden trucks, vans represent one of the toughest tests of a battery-electric drivetrain. For a start there are a lot of them; from a base of 1994, the UK van parc and van annual mileage has almost doubled. And they work hard. In 2022, the UK’s 4.73 million light commercial vehicles (LCVs) did an estimated 57.5 billion miles compared with 33.58 million cars doing 244 billion miles. Estimates differ, but where the average annual mileage of a passenger car is between 7,000 and 7,500, vans will typically do 12,500 to 14,000 miles each year, a lot of it on local routes rather than major arteries.

A study by the Department of Transport in April 2021 showed that the main van use was not, as is generally thought, parcel delivery, but the transport of equipment, tools and materials to places of work, which constitute more than 54 per cent of van usage. Parcel delivery was 16 per cent, as was private and domestic use, with recreational use at 13 per cent.

In 2022, the UK’s 4.73 million light commercial vehicles did an estimated 57.5 billion miles – alamy

Think vans in the UK and two words come to mind: transit and diesel. There were 960,000 licensed Ford Transits on the road at the end of 2019 and it is by far the most popular van in the UK. Last year the Transit and Transit Custom sold almost 70,000 examples against the second-placed Vauxhall Vivaro (20,477), Volkswagen Transporter (17,487), Renault Trafic (16,041) and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (15,799).

At the same time, most light commercials are powered by diesel. Of the 341,455 vans up to 3.5 tonnes sold last year (up 21 per cent year on year), 91.9 per cent had a diesel engine. Battery van sales were only 20,253 with, for the second year running, a 5.9 per cent share of the market. The reluctance of the industry to adopt electric vans is based around the penalties in terms of cost and range, plus the dearth of convenient high-current charging so drivers aren’t hanging around unnecessarily.

Mercedes-Benz eSprinter: A longer-range electric option

Mercedes-Benz has taken a big step forward in the business of range with its eSprinter. The name dates from 1977 and in 2018 the third generation was launched, with a battery version a year later.

What would otherwise be a mid-cycle facelift for the Sprinter has been given a blue spark of interest as Mercedes has shoe-horned a 113kWh (useable) lithium-iron-phosphate (LfP) battery from Chinese firm Catl. The cell pack is a modular unit which sits in the floor and is 1,752mm long, 813mm wide and 279mm high. It weighs 871kg and is only available in the long-wheelbase Sprinter body.

Mercedes-Benz eSprinter: a big step forward in the business of range

LfP batteries are robust, long-lasting, relatively cheap and safer in the event of a short circuit. They are also heavy and bulky compared with the Li-ion NMC chemistry used in most cars, although LfP has tended to be the choice of commercial vehicle manufacturers.

With the 113kW battery the eSprinter has a claimed range of up to 271 miles and will charge at up to 115kW on a DC fast charger, where an 80 per cent charge will take about 42 mins (93 mins on a 50kW DC charger). On an 11kW AC charger, a full charge will take 11 hours.

Sprinter in the UK

In the UK the eSprinter is available as a panel van and a chassis cab, in two lengths and two trim levels. There are two motor options 100kW or 150kW; later this year, a less powerful 81kWh battery option will be launched. Prices depend on spec but a Pro model with the large battery and 100kW (134bhp) motor costs £87,912 (£73,260 without VAT) and the higher-spec Select model with the 150kW (201bhp) motor costs  £92,304 (£76,920 without VAT).

Although much of the camera-and-radar-based safety systems are standard, the options list is long and pricey and it seems mean to charge £72 for “all weather floor mats”, or £144 for a hinged storage compartment lid.

Can you get a grant?

Unlike most of Europe and certainly parts of the United States where the additional costs of electric commercials are assuaged by a generous grant and operating incentives, the UK’s inducements into battery vans appear to have come from the scratchy pen of Charles Dickens’ Scrooge. A grant of £5,000 against the purchase price (though these grants are limited for fleet operators), zero vehicle excise duty (VED), zero mileage allowances, benefit-in-kind tax and 100 per cent first-year capital allowances. That’s it.

As ever, our Government considers the stick is so much mightier than the carrot and even Mercedes admits on the quiet that operators ordering double figures of diesel Sprinter vans might be told they have to take a battery-powered eSprinter as part of the deal.

Business case

This top-spec van as tested weighs 3,255kg and has a gross weight of 4,250kg, which means the payload, at 1,070kg without a driver, slips below the magic tonne as soon as you climb in. At 6,967mm long, 2,345mm wide with mirrors and 2,720mm high, this seems like an awful lot of van to carry less than 1,000kg. The load area accommodates a total of 14m3.

In the UK the eSprinter is available as a panel van and a chassis cab, in two lengths and two trim levels

Compared with many rivals there is a spark of “cut-above” about the Sprinter with its upholstered armrests, soft plastics and classy screen-based MBUK human machine interface, which has been introduced with this model.

The seats are comfortable and supportive and the driving position is highly adjustable, though the Transit still cinches it in comfort stakes.

With uprated springs and dampers to suit the increased weight, the 16-inch wheels manage the broken pavement of the coast road south from Los Angeles with a degree of comfort; Mercedes had strapped a 200kg load in the back to give the suspension something to do.

There are three driver modes: Eco, Max Range and Comfort. With 295lb ft of torque there’s nothing lacking in the pull-away performance of the eSprinter and you need to be careful not to wreck the range by driving too hard or fast.

Efficiency

Driving painfully slowly, I achieved an overall efficiency of 3.1 miles per kWh (or a range of 350 miles) over a hilly route on a warm day, but a fairer assessment was the 2.6m/kWh (294 miles of range) achieved driving normally and not impeding following vehicles. Clearly cold temperatures and higher loads will drag that figure back towards and probably below Mercedes’s WLTP claim of 271miles.

The seats are comfortable and supportive and the driving position is highly adjustable – Mercedes-Benz AG

Just before the Government tells you this is zero emissions transport, however, it’s worth recalling that using the latest figures, the eSprinter’s electricity recharging gives it emissions of CO2 equivalent of 54g/km. There really is no such thing as a free lunch.

The Telegraph verdict

Mercedes-Benz has spent nearly £300 million developing this new big-battery Sprinter. Its refined nature, enhanced real-life range and driver comfort shows that, for some operators at least, a battery electric future could be possible.

But it’s going to cost us all, since the additional weight and cost of battery-powered vehicles means a loss of flexibility and payload. Any increase in the total cost of ownership of vans feeds straight back into the prices we pay for goods and services. While Zemo, the Government net-zero quango, says it will apply a “laser-like focus” on delivery, it would be nice if it could address electric van fleet issues such as incentives and driver regulation.

The new eSprinter rides well and feels good to drive but, even if you say it quickly, almost 100 grand for a one-tonne panel van seems a huge price to pay on the road to zero emissions.

Star rating: Four out of five

The facts

On test: Mercedes-Benz eSprinter

Body style: Medium-roof, long-wheelbase, battery-electric panel van

On sale: Now

How much? £73,260 to £76,920 as tested (both excluding VAT)

Maximum power/torque: 201bhp/295lb ft

How economical? 2.39m/kWh (WLTP combined), 2.6m/kWh on test

Electric powertrain: 113kWh usable lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery in the floor, 201bhp AC synchronous electric motor with stepdown gear, rear-wheel drive

Electric range: 271miles (WLTP combined), 294 miles on test

Charge times: On 115kW DC fast charger 20-80 per cent takes 42min (93min on 50kW DC charger); 11kW AC charger 10-100 per cent takes 11 hours

CO2 emissions: 0g/km (tailpipe), 54g/km (well-to-wheels)

VED: £0

Warranty: 3yrs/unlimited mileage, 8yrs/100,000 miles on the battery

The rivals

Ford e-Transit 184PS 350 L2 H2

from £48,650 ex VAT

Ford e-Transit: feels an expensive transport solution – Ford

Transit has become a generic term for any panel van, but only recently has there been an electric option. The lower power version of this Transit has a 68kWh lithium-ion NMC cell giving a range of 156 miles. On test, I achieved only 135 at very low urban speeds – even less on longer, faster runs. The 11.3m3 body is large enough for parcel delivery duties and it drives beautifully, but with a payload of only 960kg it feels an expensive transport solution.

Maxus eDeliver 9 88kWh

Ј71,000 ex VAT

Maxus eDeliver: a convincing long-range ZEV contender

With the biggest (89kWh) battery this 12.9m3 panel van from SAIC of China can carry 860kg and has a range of 219 miles. The motor’s 201bhp/229lb ft gives it more power than the other alternative, the Renault Master E-Tech. The cab has some rough edges and the ride is a bit lumpy, but there’s a decent variety of body styles and in most other respects it’s a convincing long-range ZEV contender.

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