Category Archives: Electric Vans

News and reviews of electric vans (including plug-in hybrids).

Drivers can save £25,000 on new electric vehicle as Plug-in Grant scheme extended

May 26, 2023Electric Vans, Fleet, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

Motorists and businesses around the UK will be able to save money on electric vans and HGVs this year after the grant scheme was extended again.

The Office for Zero Emissions (OZEV) has confirmed an extension to the Plug-in Van Grant, which allows motorists to save money on a new electric vehicle. It is understood that OZEV upgraded the limit of Plug-in Van Grant orders per user from 1,000 units to 1,500 units per financial year.

The limit was originally introduced in December 2021 to “ensure best value for money for the taxpayer” and make sure budgets were distributed as fairly as possible.

Dennis Eagle eConnect electric refuse vehicle (Image: Dennis/Twitter)

OZEV is believed to be keeping the Plug-in Van Grant under continual review and could eventually pull the grant once it is satisfied with uptake.

Some vans can be sold at a 35 percent discount, with small vans attracting a maximum discount of £2,500, with drivers able to use this on popular brands including Vauxhall, Nissan and Toyota.

Motorists can get a maximum discount of £5,000 when purchasing a new large van, which must be between 2,500kg and 4,250kg in weight, have CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km and be able to travel at least 96km (60 miles) without any emissions.

Commenting on the announcement, Gerry Keaney, chief executive of the British Vehicle Rental and Licensing Association (BVRLA), praised the move but warned of the challenges faced by van drivers.

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British Army Land Rovers, at least 4 of them, are going electric

April 19, 2023Electric Vans, Fleet, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

Look at that diesel engine go

Old Land Rovers never die, nor do they even fade away. Sometimes they become electrified.

The British Army is about to begin a project to modify a quartet of in-service military Land Rovers, and to convert them from diesel to electric power.

The conversions are to be done by UK defense contractor Babcock International in partnership with EV experts Electrogenic under a one-year contract granted by the British Ministry of Defense. Then the army “will assess performance over steep terrain, wading and towing, and different climate-related conditions,” according to Babcock.

The processes involved in EV conversions include dropping out the old diesel engines and fitting new, as-yet-unspecified electric powertrains before the cars are pitted against their old-school brethren.

The British Army purchased its first batch of Land Rovers in 1949 to be used for rugged, off-road purposes, much in the way that the Jeep served the military for the United States. Most army Land Rovers have been retired, but clearly some are still in service, and there is also a thriving business in Britain to sell restored examples.

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Every brand’s cheapest electric car on a lease deal

April 11, 2023BMW, Electric Cars, Leasing a new car, News, Reviews and Comment, VolkswagenRepost

Think all electric cars are expensive? Prepare to think again, because we’ve gathered leasing deals starting from just £313 per month on models from Audi to Volvo…

Tempted by a new electric car? One way of getting one on your driveway could be with a lease deal.

Sometimes called personal contract hire or personal leasing, leasing is one of the most affordable ways to access a new car. The way it works is similar to other forms of car financing, because you pay for the car with a deposit and regular monthly payments.

Contracts usually last for three or four years, with a pre-agreed annual mileage limit. Unlike Personal Contract Purchase (PCP), there’s no option to buy the car at the end of the term. In effect, this means you’re renting the car, but the benefit of this is that the monthly payments are generally lower than with other forms of financing.

BMW i8 in Sophisto Grey (Image: T. Larkum)

So, in this instance we name every brand’s cheapest electric car that’s currently available through What Car? Leasing. Our list includes a wide range of models, including small electric cars to electric SUVs, although some manufacturers are excluded due to a limited number of deals available.

In each case, you can follow the links to learn more about our leasing deals or read our full What Car? review on the car.

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First Drive: The Nissan Townstar EV is a compelling entry to the compact electric van market

March 28, 2023Electric Cars, Electric Vans, News, Reviews and Comment, NissanRepost

Nissan is kicking off a revived van line-up with the Townstar. Ted Welford tries it out in Paris.

While Nissan is acknowledged for its Leaf being the first truly mass-market electric car, this firm’s impact on the commercial vehicle segment shouldn’t be underestimated either. Its e-NV200 was one of the first vans to be offered as an EV, and it was a huge hit, accounting for 40 per cent of all electric vans sold, even in its latter years.

Following that van up is a tough ask, but a few years after the e-NV200 was dropped, here we are with its replacement – the Townstar. This time, Nissan’s had to use its Alliance partner Renault’s Kangoo as its basis but reckons its experience and strong EV customer base give it the edge. But is that the case?

The e-NV200 was really starting to show its age by the end, so this Townstar – which is part of Nissan’s new ‘star’ van-naming policy, incorporating the Primastar and Interstar – immediately feels more modern.

It’s got a particularly car-like interior, with a large touchscreen and digital dial display fitted to higher-spec models, along with a multitude of new driver assistance features, with Nissan boasting about 20 new technologies being introduced to the Townstar.

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Green number plates explained

October 10, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultRepost

Wondered what the green stripe you see on the side of some cars’ number plates is for? Wonder no more

In June 2020 the Transport Secretary announced that electric cars would be able to wear number plates featuring a vertical green stripe (officially known as a ‘flash’) on the left-hand side of the plates.

If you’re curious what the thinking is behind the green number plates, we’ll go through this here, as well as precisely which types of car are eligible for them, and what the mechanics of procuring a set of green plates involve.

What does the green strip on a number plate mean?’

In short, if you see green number plates, it means the car wearing them is an EV. The plates can only be fitted to cars that produce zero tailpipe emissions, so only pure electric cars can benefit from them.

These plates still feature the traditional yellow (at the rear) and white (at the front) colours, but have a green box to the left of the characters. The plates themselves are also often made sustainable materials.

Hydrogen cars can also have green plates but there are only two such cars on the market in the UK (The Hyundai Nexo and Toyota Mirai), both of which remain niche propositions sold in tiny numbers.

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Renault e-trucks to pick up dirty linen in a move to decarbonise

August 19, 2022Electric Vans, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, Renault, UncategorizedRepost

French company Elis has acquired eleven electric trucks from Renault Trucks. The textile service will use the new EVs for night-time delivery and collection of linen from Elis customers in the hotel and catering sector in Paris and Clermont-Ferrand.

Elis reasons that low-emission zones in Paris and Clermont-Ferrand have made this a necessary step in line with its CSR commitments. The eleven electric trucks of type E-Tech DE will travel more than 100 km daily and serve around 700 customers weekly. Elis has installed AC charging infrastructure at its laundry centres.

The company committed to decarbonising by 2025. Accordingly, the new Renault EVs follow purchases Ellis made for another three sites in France, where they acquired ten new light electric vehicles. The company would not disclose details but added that another eight Renault Zoe cars were also in operation.

As for the new Renault electric trucks, the manufacturer offers lithium-ion batteries from 200 to 400 kWh to enable ranges of up to 400 kilometres. The 16-ton vehicles have a 185 kW electric motor (maximum output), and Renault specifies the continuous line at 130 kW. The maximum torque is 425 Nm. The payload is up to 11 tons.

Renault is also accelerating the decarbonisation of its operations and aims to make electric vehicles the new standard. The company targets realising half of its sales volume electrically by 2030.

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Volkswagen says its electric cars have ‘sold out’ for 2022 as demand for EVs in Europe doubles

May 17, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, VolkswagenRepost

German carmaker Volkswagen has “sold out” of battery-electric vehicles in the United States and Europe, meaning new customers will have to wait until 2023 to get one.

VW Group CEO Herbert Diess told the Financial Times that the company’s brands – which include Volkswagen, Porsche, Škoda and Audi – had a backlog of 300,000 orders for EVs in western Europe alone.

“We have very high order books and… order intake on electric vehicles,” Diess told the FT.

“We are basically sold out on electric vehicles in Europe and in the United States. And in China, it’s really picking up,” he added.

Volkswagen delivered 99,000 EVs worldwide in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Top rival Tesla, the world’s biggest electric car maker, delivered over three times that number in the same period, at 310,048.

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Ford splits gas-powered and electric vehicle businesses but doesn’t spin them off

March 18, 2022Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, Fleet, Ford, Ford, Formula E, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

(CNN Business)Ford is creating two new business units, one for electric vehicles and software and another for its traditional internal combustion vehicles. These companies will report their financial results separately from the rest of Ford but they will not be spun off as entirely separate companies.

This new corporate structure will allow investors to more clearly see the value of the two types of business, Ford (F) chief executive Jim Farley said, but it will not enable investors to buy stock in just the EV business. Farley said he had considered a full spin-off of the electric vehicle business, but it was simply too difficult to entirely carve it out as distinct from the rest of Ford’s operations. Also, he said, there was no need to sell stock in a new company.

“We have enough capital,” he said. “We can fund this ourselves.”

Farley, himself, will lead Ford Model e, the division focused on electric vehicles, technology, and software. Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford’s international business unit, will lead Ford Blue, the internal combustion business.

Model E is a play on Ford’s famous Model T, the car that popularized automobiles in America in the early 20th century. Tesla had once wanted to use the Model E name for its own more affordable electric car — the company’s model names would have spelled out S-E-X-Y, had it been successful — but Ford presented a legal challenge, thanks to the long-running production of Ford’s E-series van. Tesla ultimately named its vehicle the Model 3, instead.

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Wandsworth Council EV charger rollout progresses with Liberty Charge installs

March 9, 2022Away From Home, Charging, Electric Cars, Electric Motorhomes, Electric Taxis, Electric Vans, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

On-street electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints are being rolled out across Wandsworth, with 35 sites set to see installations.

Wandsworth Council began the rollout of the infrastructure in 2021 across 26 sites, with 10 already live. The latest installations will take the total number of sites to 35, comprising 65 dual socket EV chargepoints able to charge 130 vehicles at any one time.

Liberty Charge is to own and operate the chargepoints, which are to be delivered by its sister company Virgin Media O2, with the council having chosen the company due to its ability to deliver fully-funded chargepoints for residents without the means to privately charge their EV.

Additionally, Liberty Charge’s chargepoints are 22kW, which the council said is faster than other street chargepoints.

Liberty Charge is a joint venture between Liberty Global and Zouk Capital, utilising Virgin Media’s existing infrastructure – as the telecommunications company is owned by Liberty Global – for the chargepoints.

Its creation followed an EV charging trial using Virgin Media’s infrastructure, the Virgin Media Park & Charge project, which aimed to deploy 1,200 charging sockets in towns and cities across the country by early 2021.

Liberty Charge is to own, operate and maintain the Wandsworth chargepoints without requiring local taxpayer support, while the council helps to identify locations and grants the necessary approvals, with the sites in Wandsworth agreed after consultation with residents throughout the technology rollout.

“We want to not only increase the number of available charge points but to ensure that a charge point is easily accessible to all our residents,” said Kim Caddy, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for finance, resources and climate sustainability.

Over the past year, EV take up in the borough increased by just under 1,000 vehicles, with the new charging infrastructure to support and encourage EV adoption across the borough.

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How much does it cost to charge an electric car? Running costs of EVs and how to find a charging point

March 2, 2022Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, Electric Motorhomes, Electric Taxis, Electric Vans, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

One of the major draws of switching to an EV is the chance to avoid the petrol pump – here’s how much you could save

Growing numbers of us are switching to electric cars – in fact the latest UK sales data suggests sales of electric cars doubled last year.

One of the major draws of switching to an EV is the chance to avoid the petrol pump; this week the cost of fuel across the country jumped to a record high in a further squeeze to the cost of living.

But just how much could you save by switching to an electric car? And when you’re on the road away from home, how easy is it to find a plug point to recharge?

Ecotricity app display after ending session (Image: T. Larkum)

Charging at home is cheap

For EV drivers lucky enough to have a driveway and a home charger, charging at home is easy and much cheaper than the cost of refuelling a petrol or diesel car.

For a typical electric car with a 60kWh battery and a 200 mile range, a full charge at home would cost about £9.20, according to PodPoint, although cars with larger batteries can cost up to £20 to recharge at home.

That is still cheaper per mile than a petrol pump.

Charge for free on the go

Growing numbers of employer are installing EV chargers at workplaces, and many offer charging to employees for free.

Likewise, supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Lidl, and Aldi offer free charging to customers, and some councils also provide free-to-use chargers in their car parks.

Scotland has the highest number of free EV chargers, according to Zap Map.

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