What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

UK new light commercial vehicle registrations tumbled 20.6% year-on-year to 282,139 units, according to the SMMT, as supply chain problems prevented the market from capitalising on strong demand and building on the post-pandemic growth of 2021.

Compact vans did not escape the decline with sales of minivans in the sub-2.0t sector plummeting 56% to 7,805 last year and sales of light vans weighing from 2.0 to 2.5t falling by 31% to 32,501.

The one bright spot in the market was provided by the increase in deliveries of battery electric vans (BEVs), which were up 31.2% to 16,744, which represented 6% of the total new sales market.

While other sectors are now joining the party, it was the compact van segment that pioneered electrification and at the forefront of the movement was Renault’s Kangoo ZE.

The successor to the Kangoo ZE is the Kangoo E-Tech, which arrived in the UK in the third quarter of 2022. It has moved the game on again and was an important factor in the Kangoo being crowned What Van?’s Compact Van of the Year for 2023.

The new Kangoo range overall has taken great strides in terms of quality and load-carrying ability compared to its predecessor. The E-Tech delivers power of 121hp with a 45kWh battery and a range between charges of 186 miles.

Toyota is flying the flag for car-derived vans in the compact sector and has kicked off the year by announcing it is to update the Corolla Commercial for 2023 by introducing fifth generation hybrid technology to the 1.8-litre petrol powertrain.

At the end of 2022, SFS Fire Engineering added six Corolla Commercial vans to its fleet. The hybrid vehicles are used by the fire protection company’s team of engineers when installing and maintaining equipment and replace diesel vehicles on the company’s fleet.