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Fiat Professional E-Ducato
Fiat Professional’s E-Ducato electric van will be offered in up to 400 different versions. The company says the van, which is now available to order, can be had in almost every configuration that is already available with diesel power. That means panel vans from 10-17m3, chassis cabs, various roof heights, wheelbases and gross weights of 3.5 and 4.25-tonnes.
The vans, which remain frontwheel driven, are built with a modular battery layout beneath the load floor. There are two battery sizes on offer, 47kWh and 79kWh, offering WLTP combined ranges of 105 miles and 175 miles. Fiat claims that this means urban ranges of up to 146 miles and 230 miles respectively should be possible.
The company is offering an 8-year/100,000-mile warranty on the smaller battery and a 10-year/136,000mile warranty on the larger battery. There are four charging options, up to a 50kW rapid-charge input that will offer 60 miles of range in just 30 minutes.
All of the vans drive through a 90kW electric motor, generating 280Nm of torque. They have a Drive Mode Selector offering Normal, Eco and Power settings. There is also a Turtle mode, similar to a battery saving function on a smartphone, that can make a low battery level last up to 8-10% longer. Lastly, there is a Recovery mode, that ensures that even if one of the battery modules fails, the van will continue to travel on the other modules, reducing the chance of a break-down at the roadside.
CUSTOMER FOCUSED
SEVEL plant
The E-Ducato van and chassis cabs will be built at the SEVEL plant in Atessa, alongside diesel models. The bodies will then be shipped to Fiat’s Mirafiori plant in Turin, for the electrical components to be fitted. While the SEVEL plant, which is shared with other Stellantis companies, has a capacity of 300,000 vans a year, the Turin site can install up to 8,000 electric drivelines each year, of which up to 1,000 could be E-Ducato.
Despite being part of Stellantis, Fiat
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will not share the E-Ducato driveline with its former PSA partners in this van generation. They have already committed to using a BD Auto driveline and the various companies will not come together on a common van until the next generation of E-Ducato.
Service intervals are the same as for the diesel van, at two years/30,000miles. With the savings available from electric drive, improved residual values and a reduction of up to 40% in service and maintenance costs, Fiat Professional claims that the E-Ducato will offer a comparable total cost of ownership to its diesel models after four years, (12,000 miles per year).
For companies considering a move to electric drive, the firm has created an app to see if the van suits their requirements. Available at profitbyeducato.com, the app allows customers to input their operating distances, loads and working patterns. The app can also be used to record actual van use and demonstrate which E-Ducato configuration would best suit the customer’s needs.
