A BATTERY OF REASONS TO SWITCH(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 68

Is your business ready for a full-electric van? If it is and you're looking for a compact one, then Chinese maker Maxus wants you to factor this model, the eDeliver 3, into your thinking. It can potentially run for up to 150 miles on a single charge, quite enough for urban deliveries, and is more affordable, better equipped and better warrantied than its established mainstream brand battery-powered rivals.

Background word count: 153

If the motor industry is serious about reducing smog in our cities, it needs to put as much effort into electrification in vans as in cars. Particularly when it comes to the more compact LCVs that account for most sales. With many of the established van brands proving slow off the mark in this regard, it's been left to a segment newcomer, Chinese maker Maxus, to show what can be done with this model, the eDeliver 3. This Chinese model compete in a crowded market for full-electric compact vans against models like the Renault Kangoo E-Tech, the Nissan Townstar Electric, the Vauxhall Combo Electric, the Citroen e-Berlingo, the Peugeot e-Partner, the Fiat E-Doblo and the Ford Transit Courier Electric. The Maxus eDeliver 3 easily undercuts all these rivals both on price and specification. But can it offer other attributes strong enough to justify business customers committing to an unknown mark in this segment?

Driving Experience word count: 233

The eDeliver 3 certainly spears away from rest in the way early electric vehicles used to, but it runs out of puff quite quickly. Rest to 62mph takes between 11 and 12 seconds, depending on the variant you choose and the modest top speed is 75mph. Still, all variants have 255Nm of pulling power, so there's plenty of mid-range grunt should you need to dart into a gap in the traffic. There's a choice of electric powertrains; either a 35kWh package or a larger 50.23kWh battery pack. You'll want to know about driving range. The entry-level 35kWh variant has a maximum claimed WLTP-rated range of 99 miles (rising to 141 miles in the city). The larger capacity 50.23kWh battery improves these readings to 151 miles (or 213 miles in the city). To get near those figures, you'll have to regularly engage the provided 'Eco' drive mode - the alternative is a 'Regular' setting. There are three selectable energy recovery modes too. Across the range, the braked towing capacity is up to 1,200kg. And the turning radius is 5.87-metres. The kerb weight (1,425kg) is quite substantial for a small van and you certainly feel that in the way this eDeliver 3 crashes over bump and speed humps like a go-kart: off hand, we can't recall testing a more stiffly-sprung vehicle of an kind. Or any EV with a louder electric motor than this one.