Voltage and volume
Peugeot parent company Stellantis says it wants to overtake Ford as the world’s No 1 maker of light commercial vehicles by 2030, with a huge focus on battery electric vehicles (BEVS): 40 per cent of the overall mix. It’s created a new Pro One business unit for that purpose.
Okay, it has a lot of brands in tow to achieve that: Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Opel, Ram and Vauxhall.
And the company’s global ambition isn’t as relevant here in New Zealand, where many of these LCV brands are pretty niche.
But the point is, this maker is very serious about its electric LCVS. Which brings us to Peugeot NZ’S latest e-expert. We’ve already had some time in the compact e-partner; this is a bigger van, “medium length” according to Peugeot, more a rival for the likes of the Ford Transit Custom, Toyota Hiace and Volkswagen Transporter.
We say Peugeot NZ’S “latest” e-expert, but in fact this model is about to be superseded by a facelift version in Europe.
Late last year, Stellantis revealed a bunch of new LCVS under that new Pro One division, and refreshed e-partner and e-expert models were among them. They’re probably still a while away for NZ, but just for the record, this version of the e-expert is much closer to the end of its model life than the beginning.
And that does kind of show. It’s a nice looking van, the chromey front looks quite old-fashioned (and thoroughly ICEY) compared with the smooth look of the facelift version.
Inside, it’s the only current Peugeot not to have the fancy i-cockpit interior, making do with an old-style slabby dash and tiny 7in infotainment screen. Although it does still offer full Apple Carplay/ Android connectivity.
This is essentially an electrified version of an ICE van. Even the rear flap for the fuel filler remains, sealed off, with a new cutout for the charge port in the front guard. There’s not even anywhere to keep the charging cables: in our test vehicle they were just lashed under a net on the cargo floor.
But even as it is, the e-expert is a brilliant van. The Europeans are really good at this kind of stuff. The cabin is big and comfortable, with lots of minor storage; if you option the $900 Moduwork package you even get a fold-up outer seat (for taller items), more storage under the squab of the central cushion, a fold-down table and load-through panel under the passenger’s side that extends the load length from 2.5 to 3.7m.
Van buyers will know their specific needs and wants, but for the record, the e-expert has 1628/1397mm load width/height, 1258mm between the wheel arches and 5.3/5.9m3 load volume without or with the Moduwork pack. Dual sliding doors, 180-degree barn doors at the back. Brilliant.
The e-expert has the biggest battery of any Peugeot BEV sold in NZ: 75kwh, which also pushes the kerb weight to over two tonnes. However, it retains a one-tonne payload and can also tow a tonne.
If you’re used to driving rattly diesels, this is one sweet LCV. It’s exceptionally quiet (there’s even acoustic glass in the windscreen), the ride is smooth even when unladen and the whole drive
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Peugeot’s e-expert EV van delivers in so many ways. But what price green credentials?
experience is positively relaxing.
It’s also well-stocked with safety assists, with the exception of adaptive cruise – which is a shame, because the e-expert has a lot of other camera-based stuff, including lane departure and forward collision alert. Blind spot monitoring too, which is handy when you’re a strictly occasional vannie and there are no side windows to see through.
It’s a nice drive, but it ain’t fast. Just 100kw moving a two-tonneplus vehicle means over 14sec to 100km/h and very leisurely rolling acceleration. Although you do get a Power mode that sharpens up the throttle response.
Nor is it especially efficient, which is a bigger problem for a commercial vehicle. Despite the big battery, the WLTP range is just 339km – which is not terrible, but not great for a 75kwh reserve. And remember, it all goes further downhill when you start to load this thing up.
So there are definitely some limitations in terms of working life for the e-expert, but the biggest issue could be price. Base retail is $86,990; our test van had the $900 Moduwork package (worth it), $550 metallic paint and the so-called Look Pack, which adds body-colour trim, LED running lights and special wheel covers (although the van pictured wears alloys) for $1000.
Grand total: $89,440. This is a nice eco-van with immense practicality, but you’ll need to do a lot of running-cost calculations to get it past the company accountant.