The cooling unit hardly protrudes above the roofline in the Nissan NV200 Fridge – the bulk of the unit is inside, as the picture below shows.

Nissan has launched a refrigerated conversion of its NV200 van that will be available directly from main dealers, with prices starting from £19,375.

The firm says that the decision to offer a fridge van conversion is the result of strong fleet and business demand and highlights that buyers of the new van will get Nissan’s standard three-year warranty, which will include the insulated cell and the cooling unit.

The conversion itself is carried out for Nissan by French converter Gruau, which will install a moulded polyester-polyurethane insulated cell with a cubic capacity of 2.2m³and a Carrier low-profile roof-mounted cooling unit, which will cool the van down to 0°C.

Unlike many aftermarket fridge conversions, where box-like cooling units are bolted on top of the front of the roof, this cooling unit barely protrudes above roof level and maintains the original look and aerodynamic qualities of the van — the majority of the cooling unit is inside the van, although not in such a way as to be likely to affect the usable loadspace.

Inside the Nissan NV200 Fridge van.

Nissan says that the entire conversion adds just 215kg to the weight of the vehicle, leaving a useful 524kg of payload.

The NV200 Fridge Van also comes fitted with a mains connection, so that it can be plugged into a standard 13A socket overnight to maintain the temperature in the refrigerated compartment.

The van is powered by Nissan’s ever-present (and very good) 1.5 dCi diesel engine, which boasts an official fuel consumption figure of 57mpg, although I would imagine the fridge might reduce this a bit.

Barry Beeston, Nissan corporate sales director said:

“A lot of great work has gone into developing the NV200 Fridge as the ideal solution for any fresh food company’s transportation needs. With the conversion adding little weight to the vehicle, the driving quality and the nimble performance of the base NV200 is maintained. ”

The standard version of the NV200 Fridge includes rear doors only and starts from £19,375, but a model with an additional sliding side door is also available, from £19,675. The van is available to order now from Nissan dealers.