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The What Van? Road Test: Toyota Corolla Commercial (2022)
Date: Friday, November 18, 2022
Powertrain
Developing 142Nm of torque at 3,600rpm, Corolla Commercial’s four-cylinder in-line 16-valve petrol engine works in conjunction with a 53kW/600v 163Nm permanent magnet synchronous electric motor/generator plus a lithium-ion battery. The combined package delivers 120hp at 5,200rpm.
Power is delivered by means of a single-speed Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).
Press brake hold and the brakes will remain on when the transmission lever is in D for Drive, unless you press the accelerator pedal. That should stop you rolling backwards on an incline.
Driving
Keyless ignition is fitted. Put your foot on the brake pedal, press a button on the dashboard, wait until ‘ready’ appears on the instrument panel, ensure the electric parking brake is released, and off you go.
The van moves away from rest using the electric motor, which continues whirring away at low speeds or when Corolla Commercial is going down a gentle slope; unless the battery needs charging. If that is the case, then the petrol engine steps in immediately.
During normal driving the petrol engine plays the lead role while leaving the motor to act as a generator, and charge the battery. Accelerate hard and the battery’s power is added to that of the engine to give some extra impetus, cutting in and out smoothly with no jerking or hesitating.
Energy which would normally be dissipated when the van slows is recouped and pumped into the battery. To maximise this effect, push the gear shift lever to the ‘B’ setting when you are descending a steep hill.
Doing so increases the engine braking being delivered, in effect giving you the use of a heavy truck-style retarder.
Three different driving modes are on offer; Eco, Normal or Sport. You make your choice by flicking a switch just ahead and to the left of the shift lever.
The first two settings are fine for most daily tasks and deliver ample performance, although you may want to favour Normal if you are heavily laden or towing a trailer. Use Sport if you need to get past slow-moving traffic, or if you are in hurry.
Although there are times when the steering can feel a little dead, on balance Corolla Commercial rides and handles well.
In-cab noise levels are suppressed well aside from some droning from the tyres. Wind, tyre and suspension noise do of course become more noticeable when the van is running on battery power only.
Fuel economy is one of Corolla Commercial’s big plus-points.
Sticking almost exclusively to Eco or Normal, we returned anywhere from 54.2mpg to 67.4mpg according to the van’s on-board computer. This suggests that the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) combined cycle figures quoted by Toyota are not too far adrift from reality.
They cite 55.6mpg to 61.4mpg.
Dashboard displays give you, among other things, the percentage of battery-only driving since you began your journey, tell you how much charge is left in the battery and encourage you to drive more frugally by giving you marks out of a 100.
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