We drive LDV’s new battery-dedicated van, which offers huge potential.

CHINESE brand LDV is to launch a new purpose-built electric van in New Zealand with potential to transform the urban commercial delivery market.

The vehicle is the eDeliver 3, here in the first quarter of 2021. It’s a futuristic-looking van that will be offered in short- and long-wheelbase forms, with a choice of two battery packs, payloads of up to 1020kg … and the cheapest option will achieve the distributor’s sub-$50,000 target, but just $10. And only with goods and services tax excluded.

Add in the tax and the $49,990 ‘sticker’ ratchets up a further $7500. (The GST-excluded figure applies if a vehicle is bought for legitimate commercial use; a buyer can then often reclaim the GST).

One example is in New Zealand for evaluation by LDV importer Great Lake Motor Distributors. It’s a built to United Kingdom market specification, so is badged Maxus, the new name for LDV product in Europe, and has the larger of the two powertrains. That version costs $62,490 with the tax included.

“I can just see the eDeliver 3 zipping around Auckland,” beamed GLMD managing director Rick Cooper at the media event. “I see a very rosy future for this van.”

When MotoringNZ drove the van, pricing discussions with China’s SAIC Motor were still under way. However, Cooper seemed intent on dropping hints; he referred, for instance, to the $48,990 pricing of the recently-arrived MG ZS EV, also a SAIC product (but with another distributor).

GLMD has already dipped its toe in the commercial EV water with the larger EV80 van, which entered the market in 2018 with an $80,000 pricetag. It’s done okay; so far 51 have been sold.

But the eDeliver 3 has obvious potential to do much better. It will be first completely purpose-built electric van to enter the Kiwi new vehicle market. Designed from the ground up for electric power only, it uses a combination of alloy, high-strength steel and composite materials to keep weight down.

Experts say at least 140kg has been shaved off the weight via the use of these lightweight materials – and a classic illustration of that is the van’s bonnet, which is made of composite material and can be easily lifted unclipped and lifted off the vehicle to gain access to the electric motor.

When the eDeliver 3 does arrive, it will be available in short-wheelbase and long-wheelbase forms, and with a choice of 35kWh and the 52.5 kWh battery pack that is in the trial example. Range is up to 280km with the smaller pack and 400km with the larger.

The high power, low energy electric motor offers maximum power of 90 kilowatts, while peak torque is 255 Newton metres. This gives acceleration times to 100kmh of as low as 11 seconds.

A feature of the vehicle is that it provides DC and AC dual charging. In the DC mode the battery pack can be charged to 80 percent in just 45 minutes and on to 100 percent in 80 minutes. In the AC mode the charging time to 100 percent will be six to eight hours.

The short-wheelbase model will offer 4.8 cubic metres of load space, and up to 905kg payload depending on the size of the battery pack. The long-wheelbase version will have 6.3 cubic metres of cargo room, with up to 1029 payload if the fitted with the smaller battery pack.

That, said the GLMD people, will be a major selling point for the eDeliver 3 in a commercial delivery van environment in which cargo capacity is king.

Driving this new van is a fascinating experience – and that’s right from the beginning, when you discover that there’s no push-button start; instead the driver must turn an ignition key in the traditional way, and with the transmission in neutral.

From then it’s a matter of turning a rotary selector into D and heading off in an almost silent way. In typical electric vehicle style there’s instant torque, and there are two battery regeneration settings to help pick up charge when decelerating and braking – one is quite gentle and the other is more pronounced.

The eDeliver 3 immdiately impresses as an easy drive, with the frontal area separated from the load space in the interests of less noise and better crash safety, and the load area accessed by a sliding door on the left side and wide-opening rear doors.

The electric news doesn’t stop there.

GLMD also confirmed that when the eDeliver 3 does arrive in New Zealand, it is likely to be followed soon after by a second new electric van.

It will be the larger eDeliver 9, which will be based on the existing EV80 platform and boast a payload of up to 1400kg. Its battery pack is likely to be a larger 73 kWh version, which will give it a range of up to 270km. The van is expected during the second quarter of 2021. There has been no indication of pricing.

# This story was updated and altered on November 22, with the determined pricing included. Additional reporting by Richard Bosselman.