The all-electric Nissan e-NV200 van was the top-selling electric van in Europe in 2016. UK sales of the van rose by 20% last year, while total European sales rose by 7% to 4,319 units.

The Nissan e-NV200 electric van is the top-selling electric van in 17 European countries.

The top markets for the e-NV200 were the UK, Norway and France, but the van was the top-selling electric model in no fewer than 17 European countries.

Although the e-NV200 faces competition from the Citroen Berlingo/Peugeot Partner Electric in the small van segment, the e-NV200 is usefully larger and also comes in a choice of body styles. In addition to the panel van model, buyers can order the Combi and Evalia passenger variants which offer five and seven-seat options respectively.

This versatility plus Nissan’s attractive 5-year/60,000 mile warranty may be tipping the balance for a lot of buyers. It probably would for me. However, Gareth Dunsmore, Director of Electric Vehicles at Nissan Europe, was keen to emphasise the electric van’s other advantages:

“Aside from its obvious environmental advantages, e-NV200 owners also benefit from its low-running costs, starting from as little as two pence per mile, a smooth and near-silent ride and 40 percent lower servicing costs when compared with an equivalent diesel vehicle.”

I’ve been harping on about the attractions of these electric vans for some time now.

With a range of up to 106 miles between charges, I firmly believe they’d be suitable for a wide range of UK LCV operators. It’s only fear of the unknown and inertia that’s causing these firms to continue specifying poorly-suited diesel vans for low-mileage urban/semi-urban roles. This will eventually change, especially as diesels become increasingly demonised in our cities.