Van and Commercial Vehicle Awards 2022: Best Electric Van

Priced from £27,910 Range 171 miles CO2 emissions 0g/km Load space 3.3-4.4m3 Payload 721-803kg Power 134bhp Torque 192lb ft

Not only do the Citroën e-Berlingo, Peugeot e-Partner, Toyota Proace City Electric and Vauxhall Combo-e stack up well when it comes to ownership costs, but they’re also among the best vans to drive. 

Their 134bhp power figure might seem small on paper, but because it’s backed up by 192lb ft of electric torque, they feel impressively punchy away from the lights. You can tailor the driving experience, too, with Eco, Normal and Power driving modes – the latter for those times when you really need to get a move on, and the former to help eke out range on a long day’s work. 

On top of that, light but accurate steering and a surprisingly plush ride make these vans more relaxing to drive around town than their combustion-engined equivalents.

On the subject of range, all four vans offer a zero-emissions range of 171 miles and all four support fast-charging as standard. In optimum conditions, when plugged into a 100kW charger, you can take them from empty to 80% charged in less than 30 minutes, so the van can quickly be back on the road and earning money, and long trips are made more convenient.

For such a small van, there’s also an impressive payload capability – up to 800kg is possible – and a respectable load volume; short-wheelbase models provide 3.3m³ of capacity, increasing to 3.9m³ in long-wheelbase vans. The Citroën, Peugeot and Toyota (and the top Sportive model of the Combo-e line-up – it’s £600 extra with Dynamic trim) also have a folding passenger seat and load-through bulkhead between the load bay and passenger compartment, so you can increase total load capacity by a further 0.5m³.

The best electric vans must reflect the needs and trends embraced by today’s van buyers, and these four vans certainly fulfil that brief. 

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