DHappel Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 but it is an electric cargo van. https://newatlas.com/chanje-v8070-electric-van/52217/ I've been BSing with a few of you on the forum about the viability of an electric replacement for my Hello Kitty van (Nissan NV200). I had planned to get a bigger van in the future so I've been keeping an eye on the market. At the moment the Transit 150 with ecoboost motor looks most promising but there's time for that to change yet. As an enthusiast I'm not a fan of electric vehicles for the most part but for my work van it's very much a numbers game. If an electric makes sense I'll consider it. There is no joy in van driving... This particular van is bigger than I would be in the market for. They say it will be priced 'competitive' to similar diesel vans, so figure about $50-60K. They say 6000 lb cargo capacity which is good. But they also say only 100 miles range with 1000 lbs of cargo. That's both extremely little cargo for something of this size unless you deliver pillows for a living, and extremely limited range. It wouldn't even make the round trip from my home to the bay. So it's a start, but it's got a LOOOOOONG way to go before I could consider it legitimately useful. Let's see if it spurs more market development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoChef Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 unless you deliver pillows for a living, ROFL! I Love your sarcasm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted January 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 Well, that is a very large van but 1000 lbs is very little weight given all that size. Figure 200 lbs for the driver and probably 400 for racking/shelving and that leaves a 400 lb load to get the 100 mile range. Better be hauling some high-volume, low-density product. On the other hand, they claim a 6000 lb total cargo capacity which is quite good. But at only 100 miles of range with 1000 lbs on board you have to wonder how little range it would be at GVWR. And keep in mind that's the 'claimed' range. When was the last time you saw somebody OVERstate a range claim? Still, it may work in certain specialized situations where you run a fixed very short route and can recharge it daily. And like anything, you have to expect the technology will improve over time. One day it may be feasible to see an electric commercial van at a competitive price. BTW, which engine do you have in your Sprinter and how is it doing on mileage? The Transit and Sprinter Worker are fairly close in price but the Transit is gas where the Merc is diesel. Of course with the ecoboost twin turbo gas motor the Transit is a relative hot-rod. The Merc should do better on fuel use but at higher ownership costs. Oh yeah, and the Merc is still by far the best looking van! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoChef Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 I have the V6 turbo good fuel economy (coming from a LR - lol) about 20 mpg combined city-hiway very happy with it, although there's quite a bit of turbo lag. The engine has been de-tuned for the van application but i understand that it is the same engine being used in some of the SUV's and they can get a lot more ponies out of it.I bought the previous year model because it had a $4.5k discount and 0% interest and bought the extended warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted January 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 I bought the previous year model because it had a $4.5k discount and 0% interest and bought the extended warranty. Sounds like a deal to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFuller Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 Yea 1,000 lbs is almost nothing when you factor in the passengers, your shelving and let's not forget your tools. How about putting solar panels on every square inch? Perpetual motion? Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeWare Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 On the other hand, they claim a 6000 lb total cargo capacity which is quite good. But at only 100 miles of range with 1000 lbs on board you have to wonder how little range it would be at GVWR. And keep in mind that's the 'claimed' range. When was the last time you saw somebody OVERstate a range claim? Don, Can't speak for the range, but Tesla claim 0-60in 5.1secs for the Model 3 (from memory). Plenty of YouTube real-world tests show it is closer to 4.7 ..... Regards, Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted January 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 Yeah, but can they make a (affordable) van that goes more than 100 miles? That's the REAL question! BTW, silly as it sounds, the Transit with the ecoboost runs the quarter in the low 15s. Seriously.....who needs to do that in a commercial van??? It wasn't that long ago that was Mustang territory! How about we trade a second off the ET for an extra few mpg please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeWare Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 Yeah, but can they make a (affordable) van that goes more than 100 miles? That's the REAL question! BTW, silly as it sounds, the Transit with the ecoboost runs the quarter in the low 15s. Seriously.....who needs to do that in a commercial van??? It wasn't that long ago that was Mustang territory! How about we trade a second off the ET for an extra few mpg please! Watch this space .... Oh, and who needs an 18 wheeler that does 0-60 in 20 seconds loaded, and 5 seconds unloaded? Why? Because we can .... Regards, Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted January 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 Until it actually goes into production at volume numbers, it's nothing but vaporware. Sorta like the new Roadster...or the model 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeWare Posted January 26, 2018 Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 Until it actually goes into production at volume numbers, it's nothing but vaporware. Sorta like the new Roadster...or the model 3 The Model 3 is far from vaporware ....two club members own them .... Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvRovr Posted January 26, 2018 Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 Enrique, is your Sprinter the 3.0 OM642 engine? We have that in the wife's Merc GL. It's a pretty strong motor and I'm loving the torque and fuel economy, but I was pretty scared buying it as it seems to have quite a few "common failures" that are all pricey to deal with. Swirl motor flaps, oil cooler seals, timing chain stretch, etc. But...we get 22 regularly in mixed driving. We got 24+ MPG with a cargo box on the roof and fully loaded interior on a 2300 mile round-trip doing 80. And I got 16 MPG towing the Sport (5500# + 2200# trailer) which I was pretty thrilled with. The 100-series Land Cruiser was getting 13 MPG in average mixed driving and would dip down to 8-9 with our puny little 3500# boat behind it, so this is a very welcome change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted January 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 Enrique, is your Sprinter the 3.0 OM642 engine? We have that in the wife's Merc GL. It's a pretty strong motor and I'm loving the torque and fuel economy, but I was pretty scared buying it as it seems to have quite a few "common failures" that are all pricey to deal with. Swirl motor flaps, oil cooler seals, timing chain stretch, etc. But...we get 22 regularly in mixed driving. We got 24+ MPG with a cargo box on the roof and fully loaded interior on a 2300 mile round-trip doing 80. And I got 16 MPG towing the Sport (5500# + 2200# trailer) which I was pretty thrilled with. The 100-series Land Cruiser was getting 13 MPG in average mixed driving and would dip down to 8-9 with our puny little 3500# boat behind it, so this is a very welcome change.I believe it is the OM642, but likely yours is in a much higher state of tune. The Sprinter is at 187hp/325 lb-ft with a 6-speed. They also have a 2.1 L. 4-pot at 161hp/266 lb-ft. Before that they had an I-5, and before that a V6 which from what I've heard from other drivers actually got the best mileage as it was before all the DEF and other regs came into play. As for mileage, the real problem with any of them is the sheer frontal area. That's the main thing I'm not looking forward to when I finally do switch to a bigger van as I average about 25.5 mpg now @ about 20K/year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvRovr Posted January 26, 2018 Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 Yep, ours is actually a "simple one" as well, still the OM642 though. They made the GLs for 2 years without the DEF and they're badged CDI instead of Bluetec. That was a big thing for us as the DEF has even more issues to add, along with taking up the space of the spare tire. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted January 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 That's one of the reasons I'm actually leaning toward staying gas in the next van. Diesels have gotten so much more complicated and are generally at such a premium upfront it's hard to justify the payback. Did I mention the Transit ecoboost has 310 hp and 400 torques? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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