Aimed at business users, Citroen and Peugeot said the Electric Berlingo and Partner Electric retain the load-carrying capacities of the current, diesel-powered ranges. They have load volumes of up to 4.1m3, but while the Electric Berlingo has a maximum payload capacity of 675kg Peugeot claimed the partner Electric tops out at 685kg.
A two-part battery pack is installed under the vans’ flat load deck so that the cargo compartment is identical to that on the conventional vans. Like the new Peugeot Partner Electric, the Electric Berlingo has a battery capacity of 22.5kW, giving a range of up to 106 miles.
Both vans can be charged in two ways. A normal charge of up to 16 amps takes about nine hours to completely fill the batteries while a quick-charge of up to 125 amps can recover 80% of the batteries’ capacity in 30 minutes.
The motor fitted to both light commercial vehicles, developed as part of co-operative agreement with Mitsubishi Motors, has a power output of 67hp and maximum torque of 200Nm. Power is transmitted to the front wheels through a single-speed gear-reduction unit.
Both the Citroen and Peugeot models will be available in two lengths: 4.38m and 4.63m. Peugeot said the Partner Electric will go on-sale in the UK in second quarter of 2013 while Citroen will introduce the Electric Berlingo in the second half of next year.
The Electric Berlingo is a second generation model that follows Citroen’s first-generation Berlingo Electrique, which was available in the UK from 1996-2005.
