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By now, youve probably seenAmazons cute electric bread truck the Rivian Delivery Van roaming your neighborhood streets.
Perhaps youve even caught a glimpse of Fords E-Transit in the wild.
Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
And very soon, your favorite contractor might pull up in a Mercedes eSprinter or RAM ProMaster EV.
Delivery vans and other commercial vehicles are going electric and changing the way businesses (and fleets) operate.
What does this mean for you and me?
Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
Less noise, cleaner air, and happier delivery drivers, for sure.
Amazon also gets a 900 cu.ft version with 120 miles of range.
Since its only available to fleet operators, pricing varies.
Ford E-Transit
Range maxes at 126 miles, payload at 3,880 lbs, and pricing starts at $45,995.
An optional pair of 120V outlets can supply up to 2.4kW of power.
Mercedes-Benz just launched the second generation eSprinter van (the first generation never came to the US).
Ford E-Transit
Payload is 2,624 lbs and pricing starts at $71,886.
RAM is expected to launch the ProMaster EV van sometime in 2025.
Pricing is still TBD, but is expected to start around $69,000.
RAM ProMaster EV
Peace and quiet
So yes, commercial EVs are becoming a thing.
But why does it matter?
With commercial EVs youll enjoy more peace and quiet not to mention less air pollution.
Delivery vans and commercial vehicles are just the beginning.
Just imagine if taxis, buses and even garbage trucks were also electric.
I recently drove Mercedes eSprinter in Long Beach, CA, and I came away impressed.
Forget your average U-Haul rental van.
But the main reason commercial EVs have so much potential for #vanlife is because of their high-voltage battery.
More modern setups are all-electric and use more energy-dense LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries.
by plugging into the grid (at campgrounds).
It works, but house batteries are heavy and take up space inside the camper or RV.
Thats where commercial EVs get interesting, thanks to their high-voltage battery.
Allow the on-board vehicle charger to support solar panels, and you now have a complete solution.
RAMs ProMaster EV doesn’t appear to solve either problem.
