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By Jonathan Crouch

Toyota's largest LCV comes in this Proace Max Electric guise. Jonathan Crouch reports.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 79

Toyota at last brings us a very large van - with a little help from its Stellantis Group LCV partnership agreement. And the Proace Max model in question can also be had in the Proace Max Electric guise we look at here. In its other forms, this design has always had a reputation for practicality and, sure enough, load volumes of up to 17 m³ can be accommodated. Here, there's a driving range of up to 260 miles too.

Backgroundword count: 222

Toyota needs a full fleet of electric vans almost as much as it needs a complete portfolio of electric cars. The last piece in the LCV jigsaw in that respect is this model, the Proace Max Electric. Like other Toyota vans, this one is designed by Stellantis Group brands, who've been offering this design in EV form since 2020 (though we first saw combustion versions of it way back in 2006). Today, it's variously known as the Vauxhall Movano Electric, the Citroen e-Relay, the Peugeot E-Boxer and the Fiat E-Ducato. Why not have a Toyota version too? At least that means the technology is proven, though you can't help wondering what the world's biggest motor manufacturer would have come up with if it had designed this LCV itself. The design which undergirds this Toyota Proace Max Electric has just been updated with the Stellantis brand models just mentioned: Toyota waited until this happened to introduce the Proace Max Electric because the previous EV version of that Stellantis design had a feeble driving range of just 154 miles; with that being increased to 260 miles, Toyota gave the green light to Proace Max sales - for diesel as well as electric. It's the EV version we look at here, which aims to establish Toyota in the EV part of the large van segment.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 156

This Proace Max Electric uses a big Stellantis-derived 110kWh battery which takes this LCV 260 miles between charges. It powers an electric motor putting out 270bhp and 410Nm of torque - though you only get that with the fastest of the three available drive settings ('Power'). The default 'Normal' mode restricts this Toyota to 217bhp, while the 'Eco' setting you'll need to get anywhere near the quoted driving range figure restricts you to just 163bhp. There are four selectable levels of brake regeneration, which are operated by paddles behind the steering wheel. Bear in mind that as usual with EV vans, the range figure will drop off quite a bit if you've a full load out back. This EV model's under-floor battery positioning results in a low centre of gravity, improving cornering and stability even when fully loaded. The steering's quite an old-fashioned set-up that's quite heavy at low speeds, but lightens up at faster ones.

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