FIAT Professional e-Doblo

Back in January 2022 we spent a week in the electric Citroen e-Berlingo and concluded that it was very good. We also stated that with low and ultra-low emission zones arriving in 2022, fuel prices rising and the demand from online shopping showing no sign of abating, that more electric vans would follow.

And follow they have, with the Fiat e-Doblo the latest electric Stellantis van to be launched. It comes with a choice of 20 panel vans or four five-seater crew vans, and L1 and L2 versions. The shorter wheelbase models are 4.4m, the longer ones 4.75m. L1 comes with an 800kg payload, while L2 models have a 750kg payload, but come with a larger loading area. All versions feature the same 50kWh battery, which offers a WLTP range of 171 miles. Interestingly, the e-Doblo will tow 1 tonne.

The electric Doblo comes with a choice of two specs – Standard or Primo – and both are well equipped. Standard features include air con, cruise control, SatNav, DAB radio, an 8” infotainment display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a near-side sliding door. The Primo adds the load through bulkhead, rear parking sensors, a rear camera in the mirror, a Visibility Pack, an Icon Pack and a useful passenger bench seat with armrest, storage and a writing table.

The 50kWh battery uses a 100kW electric motor, putting out the equivalent of 136bhp. This is good enough for a top speed of 80 mph, but it’s the instant torque that’s most impressive, making forward progress smooth and silent.

Fast charging is included as standard. This means that the e-Doblo can top up its battery from 0-80% via a 100kW rapid charger in just 30 minutes. This is quite expensive though, so if you are looking to recharge at home, a 7/2kW Rolec Smart Charger will charge the 50kWh battery from 0-100% in 7.5 hours.

If your home or business is fitted with the appropriate electricity supply, you can option a more powerful 11kW charger, which brings the time taken down to five hours.

We were testing the e-Doblo 50kWh in basic Standard spec and the good news from the off, is that the electric Doblo looks just like the ICE model, with just a slight nod to its electric roots, namely a blue ‘E’ on the rear door in front of DOBLO.

The interior has a car-like feel to it, with the dashboard dominated by the 8” Colour touchscreen. It’s also finished in nicely textured plastics, with the grey seat fabric looking and feeling hard wearing. Our test van featured two front seats, but you can get a bench in the Primo versions. There’s plenty of room up front and for cabin storage, you get two decent sized door pockets, storage between the front seats, twin drinks holder’s on the dash top, one cubby in the centre console, a single USB, a cabin width shelf above your head and a 12v socket. The load area features six tie down hooks and the wheel arches are impressively hidden to make loading or unloading easier.

A sojourn through Warwickshire gave me plenty of scope to test the e-Doblo on a mixture of dual carriageway and urban roads as we headed to the centre of Warwick. At no point was the e-Doblo driven laden, with just myself and a passenger, so how the van performed is based on this.

What’s really appealing about e-Doblo is that it drives like a small electric family car. Steering is light and the auto gear box located just to the left of the driver is easy to operate. Here you can select from Park, Reverse, Neutral or Drive with another setting ‘B’ that adds two levels of regenerative braking to the equation. There also three drive modes: Eco, which slows everything down and turns of the heating; Normal, for everyday driving and heating; and Power, useful if your van is heavily laden or you hit a steep incline.

On the Warwick by-pass I selected cruise control, adjusted this to 60mph and off I went. It’s quiet in the cab, the seats are comfortable, the full steel bulkhead keeps the heat in and the load space noise at bay and when utilising Apple CarPlay and the DAB radio, outside wind and road noise are not an issue.

The cabin itself is well designed and its easy to reach all of the switches and buttons while driving, an important consideration for most van users. The view from the front is also excellent. The location of the battery, spread evenly underneath the load space floor, means that the suspension doesn’t showcase the battery weight like some other electric vehicles.

Electric van range is subjective. You have to factor in outside temperatures, load weight, speed and brake regeneration. The e-Doblo’s claimed maximum range is 171 miles. The e-Doblo features a battery charge indicator on the touchscreen menu – think your new fuel gauge. You will discover that in summer or when temperatures are higher, your van will go further. In winter, with lower temperatures, range will fall. What we can say is that shorter,

local trips driven at lower speeds will prove more fruitful. If you’re driving any electric van on the motorway it’s far better to drive under the speed limit at about 62mph. Also, remember that by selecting Eco drive, you will increase range but this automatically turns off the heating, which isn’t really an option in colder weather.

Excellent payload, great to drive, top-notch cabin, on trend tech and if driven carefully expect a year long range of 130 miles. Plenty of model choices in panel van and crew cab.

Expensive to buy outright, so better to lease. Very cold weather will affect range, so adjust your motorway speed down accordingly. Charging your van from empty to full, using a 7.2 kW home charger, is slow, so top up your van regularly. The Fiat warranty at three years or 60,000 miles isn’t as good as the one offered with Toyota’s Proace City Electric.

Stating the blindingly obvious, if you drive the length and breadth of the UK, any electric van is not going to be for you. The range is too small and at motorway speeds, the battery drains far faster.

However, if your van use is local, even regional, then a van such as the e-Doblo really could be a solution. Furthermore, an electric van is plainly cleaner, you don’t need to pay vehicle excise duty and EVs are currently congestion charge exempt. And we haven’t even mentioned the fuel savings you’ll achieve in an electric van, which will typically cut your monthly expenditure over diesel, even as electricity costs soar.

The e-Doblo is a comfortable, practical companion and currently one of the better electric vans on the market.

N N N N