Maxus eDeliver 3

Maxus shows it can deliver

Andrew Walker

Thanks to Covid-19 you may have missed the news that LDV changed its name in April, to Maxus. Maxus is owned by the Chinese SAIC corporation and is distributed in Europe by the Harris Group in Ireland. While Maxus is still making diesel vans – it recently launched a new large panel van, the Deliver 9 – it is in the electric van sector that it’s ahead of the game.

First announced at the 2019 CV Show, the Maxus eDeliver 3 is the brand’s all-new medium sized electric van. Where the Chinese came late to the combustion engine party, they were pretty much the first with electric powertrains, as the larger LDV EV80 can testify.

From launch customers can select either a SWB or LWB version, the latter also offered as a chassis cab, paired with the more powerful battery. There are two battery packs to choose from: a 35kWh battery, offering a city range of 141 miles and a combined range of 99 miles, and the larger 55kWh battery, which increases the city range to 213 miles and the combined to 151 miles. A rapid 45-minute DC charge with both batteries will top up your battery to 80 per cent of range, while the most common Type 2 AC charger with the 35kWh battery will take six

hours to the same level. On the 55kWh battery this increases to 8 hours.

Payload is competitive, ranging from 865kg right up to 1202kg, depending on the battery pack and wheelbase specified. The SWB van measures 4.55m, with a 4.8m cubed capacity, while the LWB version is 5.15 m in length, with a 6.3m cubed capacity. The maximum cargo space height is 1330mm, maximum width is 1665mm and it measures 1220mm between the wheel arches. The cargo length is 2180mm in the SWB van and 2770mm in the LWB.

The access at the rear, comes courtesy of a 60:40 split doors, which are 1.25m high and 1.25m wide. The side door is 710mm wide due to bulkhead intrusion and 1230mm high.

Standard equipment includes arm rests, air-con, SatNav, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto,

twin USBs, Bluetooth, a driver’s airbag, a reversing camera, rear parking sensors and cruise control.

While the exterior of eDeliver 3 bears an uncanny resemblance to the Nissan e-NV200, inside it’s more modern than the Nissan, with the dash-located touchscreen the highlight. The cabin build quality is okay, with some decent plastic and finishes and on the steering wheel, but it’s not as good as the quality you’ll find in the larger Maxus diesel Deliver 9. In comparison, it feels more modern inside than the interiors of the Nissan e-NV200 or Renault Kangoo, which are both beginning to show their age.

In the cabin you’ll find two seats, a flatbottomed steering wheel and a drive mode selector dial which frees up cabin space; there’s also plenty of useful storage.

Courtesy of Chadderton Motor Company, our local Maxus dealer, we tried the SWB 35kWh version of the eDeliver 3. It is easy to drive and offered up decent speed when pushed, hitting 60mph in about eight seconds. Top speed is 75 mph.

Utilising the regeneration and the ECO button, we made our way around Manchester driving approximately 30 miles, but only using 20 miles of range, which was good. ECO means you’re top speed is limited to around 65mph, but if you switch it off, swifter progress can be made. The regeneration switch can be set to low, medium or high, dependent on what

type of driving you are doing. Motorway would be low, urban medium and city high regeneration.

On the motorway at speed, the van did feel a little front heavy, especially when steering from lane to lane and when you’re in traffic. There’s also some battery noise when you slow down, which takes a bit of getting used to. The van panels are not the stiffest and the rear doors don’t close with as much of a thud as we’d like. These are our only criticisms, however. Overall, the ride is good, it generally handles well and the cabin is quiet. The onboard tech is easy to use and works well and it’s very well equipped.

If you’re still not sure about electric vans for your business because of range, it’s worth noting that the eDeliver 3 with the larger battery offers the best range of any electric van. It’s also competitively priced, with an entry level

cost of £36,000 including vat, before the OLEV grant of £8000 is taken into account.

Competition comes from the smaller Nissan e-NV200, which offers a payload of 705kg and a range of 124 miles, or the larger PSA group’s Citroen e-Dispatch, Vauxhall Vivaro-e and Peugeot e-Expert, which have payloads from 1262kgs and a range of 143 miles on the WLTP cycle. Price-wise, the Nissan e-NV200 starts at £31,468 and the Citroen e-Dispatch at £38,099 inc vat and before the OLEV grant.

With a name change and two new electric vans – the larger eDeliver 9 arrives shortly – the future looks bright for Maxus as it aims high in Europe. With a decent spread of UK dealers, there’s also a van centre located near you. If you haven’t tried an electric van yet, there’s no excuse not to pop in and try one.

VERDICT This is the first electric Maxus you’ll be considering, with another, the larger eDeliver 9, hot on its heels

CC&V RATING:

N N N N