Electric van with more than 300km range and onboard active safety systems now on sale

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SINGAPORE

A 60kWh battery, a DC fast charging rate of up to 80kW, and a carrying capacity of up to 6.6 cubic metres makes the new-specification eVito a very green delivery fleet vehicle, and it comes with a price tag of S$181,988 with COE.  

It’s essentially a midlife update of the eVito that was first introduced to the world in 2020 when it had a smaller 55kWh battery under the floor. The new van has increased its capacity by 5kWh, and the result is a range of up to 327km as measured on the WLTP cycle.

That’s enough for a day’s work and for a drive back to base or a charger to recharge. The eVito features a water-cooled AC on-board charger that has a maximum charge rate of 11kW, which will completely recharge a flat battery in 6.5 hours. This is frequently used at transport hubs and depots for fleet charging.

However it also has a CCS charge socket that allows for DC charging at 50kW, which can be further upgraded to 80kW charging. At 50kW DC, the van’s batteries can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in 50 minutes. Charging time drops down to 35 minutes at 80kW.

The Mercedes-Benz eVito is powered by a single 116 horsepower electric motor driving the front wheels. It has an official power efficiency of 28.3 kWh/100 km, and can be ordered in Singapore in two different lengths: the standard 5,140mm version and extra-long version, which has a total length of 5,370mm.

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The eVito has a top speed of 120km/h, which isn’t as much of a handicap as it sounds because unlike a diesel-engined van the electric motor is totally silent and does not require a multi-speed transmission. The result is that the eVito is a lot smoother and quieter at 70km/h than one fitted with an internal combustion engine. 

Plenty of active safety features from the Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicle have actually been ported over to the van, including Active Brake Assist, Attention Assist and Headlight Assist, which are all fitted as standard equipment. It also promises to be a comfortable working space, with a reasonably car-like interior, a locking glove compartment, wooden floor, and multifunction steering wheel with travel computer.

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Other very useful tech that have crossed over from the Mercedes-EQ range of electric cars include the ability to offer various recuperation levels to charge its battery while driving.

The driver can change the strength of the energy recuperation via shift paddles behind the steering wheel and there is an additional adaptive recuperation mode. This uses the car’s various onboard safety systems and cameras to process what kind of traffic and road the van is driving in, and the strength of the recuperation is adapted to the situation and in real time.

As with all present-gen EVs, don’t expect to be able to meaningfully recharge the van’s batteries with braking and coasting along, but it can extend the van’s range throughout the day. 

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