The What Van? Road Test: Peugeot e-Partner (2021)

Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Could the eye-wateringly-steep price of a litre of diesel – 175.75p on average at the time of writing – prompt more businesses to switch to electric vans? Some operators are certainly looking more closely at petrol models given that the fuel they use is well over 20p a litre cheaper than diesel, although not all light commercials are available with petrol engines.

The price of electricity has of course increased, but the day-to-day running costs of electric vans remain competitive. They require less servicing than diesels and are exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty, although this concession will end on 1 April 2025.

Nor is there any need to worry about being subject to emission zone charges. Firms running Euro 6 diesel vans have no need to worry either, although this may change if more towns and cities emulate Oxford, and introduce zero emission zones.

Battery-powered light commercials still have four big drawbacks however.

The front-end price remains high, they do not offer the range of petrol or diesel models and they take longer to recharge than a conventionally-powered van does to refuel. Furthermore, the UK’s publicly-accessible charging infrastructure remains inadequate.

Matters have improved in all four areas over the past few years, but there is still some way to go.

It was with these thoughts in mind that we got to grips with a long-wheelbase electric Peugeot e-Partner Professional Premium + van with a three-seater cab. A short-wheelbase model is up for grabs too, and both variants come with the same roof height.

A crew van is available on the longer platform.

Two trim levels are listed, with Professional Premium + being the entry-level choice. If you want features such as satellite navigation, a reversing camera and automatic windscreen wipers then you will have to upgrade to Asphalt Premium +, or start ticking the options list.

Peugeot is part of the vast Stellantis automotive empire which also embraces Citroën, Fiat Professional and Vauxhall. As a consequence e-Partner is also marketed by Citroën as the e-Berlingo, by Fiat Professional as the E-Doblo and by Vauxhall as the Combo-e.

What is more, the same vehicle is sold by Toyota as the Proace City Electric thanks to a joint-venture agreement between Stellantis and the Japanese giant. It comes with an impressive warranty package.

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