Mercedes-Benz eVito

eVito makes strong case in the urban delivery sector

The launch of the eVito gives Mercedes-Benz a genuine contender in the important urban delivery sector. Andrew Walker reports

One of the latest electric vans to enter the fray is the Mercedes-Benz eVito, which made its way to Company Car and Van recently. The Vito range was facelifted in 2019 and the eVito includes all of those updates.

The eVito offers 85 (70) kW of power, 300 Nm of torque, a 91-mile average range, combined with a six hour charging time. This is based on three-phase charging, which is lucky, because CC&V uses a 7kW Rolec home charger, so we could really find out if this charging time was true.

To keep things simple, the front-wheel drive eVito has been aligned with the current Vito range and offers a standard specification that mirrors the PURE model in the range line-up. Specification includes a height and rake adjustable steering wheel, Hill Start Assist, electrically adjustable heated exterior mirrors, sliding doors on both sides of the vehicle, wood flooring and an adaptive brake light. In addition to the PURE specification, the eVito exclusively offers Mercedes PRO connect, which adds a heated drivers’ seat, TEMPMATIC air con, a four-metre charging cable, with a CanTrack vehicle tracker.

Versatile

The eVito is offered in two lengths, L2 or L3. Prices start from £39,895 ex VAT for the eVito Van PURE L2, increasing to £40,415 ex VAT for the eVito Van PURE L3. And currently, Home Fast Smart charge point and installation worth £549 is included with eVito purchases.

As far as storage goes, the L2 model offers 6.0 m3 cargo volume, 2,277 kg kerb weight, 3,200 kg GVW, with a payload of 923 kg. The L3 offers 6.6 m3 cargo volume, 2,302 kg kerb weight, 3,200 kg GVW and a payload of 898kg.

Add more kit and quality by going for the PROGRESSIVE option.

For both specification levels, Mercedes PRO connect comes as standard and free for the first three years. Benefits for driver and fleet manager include Remote Access, Digital Drivers’ Log, Drive Style monitoring, real-time variable servicing monitoring, parking time monitor and geo-fence options.

As an electric van, the eVito benefits from pre-conditioning of the heaters and highlights the vehicle charging options nearby. So far so good, but what’s the eVito like to live in? Well, from the outside it looks just like standard Vito. We were testing the entry level PURE L2 and you’d be hard-pressed to know it’s an electric van unless you get up close and read the discrete eVito and eLECTRIC badging. Even the fuel cap is in the same place on the left hand side of the van.

Inside, all seems familiar. You get the 2019 updated Vito interior, which includes two USBs and a heated front driver seat, but not proper air con. It was 30 deg C the week I drove the eVito and although air con will drain the battery, I was forced to drive with the windows open just to keep vaguely cool.

There’s a three seat configuration up front, as well as some top of the dash storage, a decent glove box and two handy deep door pockets, but not anywhere to fit a large bottle or drinks container. The ignition is on the left.

Power steering is standard and the wheel is both rake and reach adjustable. The driver’s seat also offers a myriad of adjustment, so getting comfortable was not a problem. The hand brake is located on the floor as it is in Mercedes cars. You push a ‘fourth’ pedal with your left foot to engage the brake and then pull a dash mounted lever to release.

I found it straightforward to use, although some may not like it as it doesn’t help you with hill starts.

In the centre of the dash and higher up than in some vans are the Audio 15 infotainment system and heating controls. The infotainment screen is slightly awkward to reach for the driver, as is the USB inputs, which are on the left of the dash. For a left-hand driven Vito, this location would make perfect sense. The front windows are electric and keeping the cabin quiet is a full width bulkhead. The quality is top-notch but it’s not as practical as some competitors.

The rear load space is easily accessed as the L2 Vito we drove comes with left and right hand slide-opening side doors and twin rear doors that open 180 degrees. To be fair we used it only once, to transport a mountain bike into the Peak District and it was a simple enough task to fix the bike to the hooks located in the rear floorspace, to stop it moving around.

On the road

Of more interest ,I’m sure, is how the eVito drives and how far one can travel in it. For starters it’s easy to drive and very relaxing on the motorway. The gear lever offers Neutral, Reverse or Drive options and even with the battery weight underneath the floor, the eVito handles pretty well for it’s weight.

As with most electric cars, the eVito offers several levels of regenerative braking, which can be adjusted using the paddles on either side of the steering wheel. This enables you in traffic or in town, to utilise D-, the strongest regenerative level, which is also the most noticeable. You can then decrease the strength of regeneration by pulling on the right hand paddle, moving through the options of D, then D+ and as we found for motorway driving the very useful D++.

Dundee sets the EV green standard

Dundee has been quick to take action ahead of the 2030 Internal Combustion Engine Sale Ban. The small city has gained a lot of global attention in recent years, taking the prime position as the poster child for pollution reform.

Dundee City Council has been investigating how to tackle vehicle emissions for the past 10 years, and during this time some pioneering changes have been made to the City of Discovery. A recent change has been the approval of the Mercedes-Benz eVito Tourer for taxi operation. Switching to the 100% electric tourer from Western Commercial Dundee will save taxi operators from the costly emission charges coming to the city in 2022. The proposed Low Emission Zone for Dundee will encapsulate the city’s main shopping centres, restaurants, and hotels, key stomping grounds for any major taxi firm.

The other large cities of Scotland have also released their zone boundary maps ahead of the 2022 roll-out, however, none as of yet have made the same investment as Dundee.

A key factor in Dundee’s green success has been its continued investment in EV charging infrastructure, and today the city boasts over 350 charge points – including a number of pop-up points. Sitting flush with the ground these pop-up points only appear when activated by an app. The trial of these discrete charging points remedies one of the main disadvantages of EV charging infrastructure: street clutter. If you want to experience the world’s first pop-up commercial vehicle chargers, they can be found right next to

The eVito Tourer has been approved for taxi operation in Dundee’s Low Emission Zone – just one of a host of green initiatives the city council has implemented as it looks to position Dundee as a climate change world leader.

Dundee’s famous V&A museum.

Pop-up commercial vehicle charging sits alongside tidal arrays and floating offshore windfarms on the list of green technologies Scotland has adopted before the world. Scotland is acting as a testing ground and so far, Dundee’s results are coming out on top.

Dundee City Council is ensuring it leads by example, boasting the largest fleet of electric council vehicles in the UK, setting the goal to convert 20 per cent of all vehicles in the city to electric by 2027. These targets come as a global spotlight shifts to Scotland ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, taking place this year in Glasgow from November 1-12.

The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Countries recovering from the coronavirus pandemic have a historic opportunity to build back better, and greener. Manufacturers have a vital role to play too, with brands such as Mercedes-Benz vowing to be CO2-neutral by 2039.

Councils understand that these climate targets and changes can cause community anxiety, therefore initiatives have been set up to empower residents with the knowledge they need to switch. Drive Dundee Electric is one such initiative, a hub of EV driving information specific to the city, dispelling common misconceptions and aiding in the battle against range anxiety.

Without a doubt, Scotland is at the very forefront of the electric revolution with Dundee setting the trajectory of the green curve, ready for the world to follow.

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There are three drive modes: E+, E or C. E+ is the most efficient; E is the middle option and the one we preferred, or you can select C, which is the least efficient but the most fun.

The eVito was delivered with a full charge of 91 miles. We drove around 30 miles in drive mode E along the M56 at around 70mph. On arrival at a Tesco, we took advantage of its Podpoint charger while we shopped, as it gave us up to two hours of free charging. Our journey decreased the range from 91 miles to 55 but after an hour charging it was back up to 71 miles for the return leg. Thirty miles later and back home, the range was now 36 miles.

We then repeated the identical journey the following day and we concluded that if driven unladen with just a driver, at mostly motorway speeds, then the eVito offers an 80-mile range. For the remainder of our week we drove locally and once up into the Peaks and back, at lower speeds of up to 50mph. At these speeds the range is a genuine 90 miles, as you can really take advantage of the regenerative braking to keep that battery topped up.

This may sound like damning with faint praise, but when we have driven other electric cars or vans they are regularly no better than 70-80 per cent accurate on their electric range, so the eVito at 88 per cent or better on our test, was a pleasant surprise.

However, when compared with rivals from Stellantis such as the Viavro-e, e-Dispatch and e-Expert, the eVito’s 91-mile range can’t match their claimed WLTP battery range of 143 miles – even if that figure should be more like 110 miles. Which begs the question, should you buy one? If your van travels locally at 75 miles or under per day, then it’s well worth a look. It’s not as cheap as the diesel Vito, whose entry level model costs £23,900 + vat against our eVito’s £39,895. That’s a big difference. The OLEV grant does claw some of this back, but the main saving will be on fuel. We reckon that in a calendar year and driving 10,000 miles in your eVito, you’ll save 75% of your fuel costs by plugging in rather than filling with diesel.

In conclusion, the eVito was much better than we expected. It performed well above average on our EV mileage range tests, it’s comfortable, quiet to drive and now offers Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, something we really can’t live without.

On the negative side, it needs air con rather than a heated driver’s seat and cruise control would have been handy too.

Some may say that 80-91 mile range is nowhere near enough, but we reckon that plenty of businesses don’t need a complete fleet of long-distance diesel vans. Factor in that charging is about 75 per cent cheaper per mile of range, than filling your Vito with diesel and the gap narrows again.

Ultimately, it comes down to your confidence in the eVito’s range, your daily mileage, and access to charging points. If your business has charging stations, or you have one at home, there really is nothing to fear from an electric Vito.

CC&V VERDICT

Nothing to fear and plenty to be pleased about. The ‘last mile’ urban delivery driver is worthy of an upgrade to a Mercedes-Benz

CC&V RATING:

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