The What Van? Road Test: Mercedes-Benz eVito (2022)

Date: Thursday, October 20, 2022

While some businesses will undoubtedly cling doggedly to their diesel vans until they fall apart, we all have to face facts. Zero-emission electric light commercials represent the future and we’re going to have to get used to the idea; like it or not.

Not surprisingly, prospective operators worry about their drawbacks. They include a limited range between recharges, the length of time it takes for a battery pack to achieve a 100% charge, eye-watering front-end prices and a patchy publicly-accessible charging infrastructure.

Too few charging bays in car parks and other locations are big enough to accommodate anything other than a light van. Try to get an electric 3.5-tonner into one and get it plugged in and you may struggle.

Things are steadily improving however. While the old Mercedes-Benz eVito could barely cover 90 miles before its battery needed replenishing, its successor is good for up to 162 miles, says the manufacturer, according to WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised
Light Vehicle Test Procedure) figures. That is of course nowhere near what a diesel van with a full tank of fuel can achieve, but it is a definite step in the right direction.

Find yourself a rapid 80kW DC charging point and you can boost your battery from 10% to 80% of its maximum capacity in just 35 minutes, says Mercedes. Overnight charging from 0% to 100% using an 11kW AC wall box Type 2 charger takes 6.5 hours, it adds.

Front-end prices remain woefully-high though and electricity is notoriously not quite as cheap as it once was.

Furthermore, if you do not happen to have a domestic wallbox and you have no choice but to plug your eVito into a standard household socket then a full recharge will take around 20 hours, says Mercedes. We can confirm that figure is correct from personal experience.

Available with two different wheelbases – L2 or L3 – and a single roof height, eVito comes with a choice of two trim levels; Progressive, or the newly-introduced and more-upmarket Premium. Both models boast the same electric motor and power train.

We whispered along in an L2 Premium and tried to avoid startling pedestrians and cyclists. An acoustic warning device, which triggers at below 19mph helped ensure we didn’t do so.

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