The Nissan e-NV200 electric van goes on sale in the UK in June

Nissan’s e-NV200 electric van goes on sale in June.

The company is hoping that it will be the first electric van to break through to the mainstream market, and Nissan has spent a lot of time and effort preparing the ground for this launch.

Large fleet operators have enjoyed a high level of access to the e-NV200, thanks to a number of long-term operational trials aimed at proving the commercial and operational viability of the van.

Companies that have participated in the UK include FedEx and British Gas, which aimed to make a substantial part of its fleet electric by 2015. Further afield, names such as Coca-Cola, DHL, IKEA, EDF and the Japan Post Office have also been involved in trialling the e-NV200 in everyday operational use.

The basics

Nissan says that the electric version of the NV200 has been re-engineered where necessary, to ensure that it is not simply a converted NV200, but a well-designed van in its own right. According to the firm, the e-NV200 has a unique part count of more than 30% — i.e. 30% of its parts are made specially for this model and are not common with the conventional NV200.

The dashboard and controls in the e-NV200 have been designed to be as similar as possible to a conventional van, in order to aid drivers who have to switch between vans regularly.

The e-NV200’s homologated NEDC [official] range of 170km is greater than the average 100km daily driving distance required by more than half of the fleets who use this size van, says Nissan, while its payload and cargo area (4.2 cubic metres) are the same as the standard NV200.

The battery can be recharged overnight using a domestic 16-amp single-phase 3.3 kW supply which reduces to four hours if a 6.6kW/32-amp supply is used. A dedicated CHAdeMO DC 50 kW quick charger can recharge the battery from 0-80 percent in just 30 minutes or less if the battery is already partially charged. More than 1000 public CHAdeMO quick chargers are now installed across Europe, in addition a number of companies have installed their own dedicated quick charging facilities at their home depots or offices.

Will it work?

I have believed for several years that the big opportunity for mainstream adoption of electric vehicles is in the light commercial vehicle sector.

Many vans do less than 60 miles a day and never venture outside the city — the ideal usage scenario for electric vehicles.

Nissan shares this view and has made a big commitment to electric vehicles, in both car form (the LEAF) and through the e-NV200. What’s needed now is for a few major van operators and forward-looking looking SMEs to bite the bullet and commit to operating a significant slice of its fleet on electricity.

I believe this is both possible and increasingly likely, and for my money, Nissan has the best chance of any manufacturer yet of delivering an electric vehicle that gains mainstream acceptance.

Watch this space.