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By Jonathan Crouch

Renault's Trafic van finally goes electric. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 63

Renault's mid-sized Trafic van finally adopts full-battery power in this E-Tech electric guise. The brand says this variant 'cuts no corners on its combustion counterpart's strengths' and sure enough, if you can live with the driving range on offer here, the compromises are few if you want a Renault van of this size and are minded to make the switch away from diesel.

Backgroundword count: 181

One day in the not too distant future, all mid-sized vans will primarily be EVs and will run on proper purpose-designed EV platforms. But not yet. We're currently in a transition period where manufacturers are converting existing combustion-powered designs to offer EV variant alternatives to the usual diesel models. One of the very last class contenders to take this step is Renault's Trafic; which you might think odd given that its brand basically pioneered the electric van market with the very first version of the smaller full-battery Kangoo model, way back in 2011. It took until the end of that decade for Renault to flesh out its EV commercial range, first with the large Master E-Tech and then with the tiny ZOE city van. Only in late 2023 was the line-up fully completed by the Trafic E-Tech electric that we look at here. It's a development well overdue for a Trafic model line that's found over 2.4 million owners over the last 40 years and is still the third best seller in the class across Europe. Let's take a closer look.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 163

There's nothing revolutionary about the engineering here. The usual diesel Trafic engine gets replaced by a front-mounted 75hp electric motor powering the front wheels via a single-speed transmission. There's a 52kWh battery pack offering a potential 186 mile range, providing you operate your Trafic E-Tech electric exclusively in its most frugal 'Eco' mode. That rises to 239 miles in the city. In Europe, there's an alternative 'Long Range' model, which offers a longer operating range but has a top speed restriction of 55mph. The standard version of this model we have here offers 210Nm torque, which means a towing capacity of 920kg. There's a conventional hydraulic braking set-up which includes an ARBS ('Adaptive Regenerative Brake System'), there to maximise energy recovery. All of the hardware in use here seems of the well proven sort and all is Gallic in origin. The motor and chargers are made at Renault's plant in Cleon, Normandy, the battery is assembled at Flins and Gretz-Armainvilliers handles vehicle electrification.

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