The Opel Combo-e is one-third of the electrified-LCV triplets of the Stellantis commercial vehicle line-up. Built on a modified passenger car platform, these provide superior long-distance comfort for their drivers.

Underneath the commercial vehicle body is the same PSA EMP2 platform that you’d find on other Stellantis passenger cars. In this application though, several practicality tweaks have been made. 

Whilst the front half has been lifted directly from the aforementioned platform, the manufacturers have opted to go with a torsion beam rear. These mechanical components came off the previous PSA PF2 generation.

Germanic Front-End Design

The Opel Combo-e wears the most distinctive front end of the trio. Stylistically, it has been modelled after the Opel passenger cars of its era, resembling the Mokka X and the pre-facelift Crossland.

Elsewhere, the van is all business. As you’d expect from a commercial vehicle, if the choice was between form and function, the engineers would always shoot for the latter. Which is why, save for the swage lines along the wheel arches, the vehicle generally adopts a rounded box form factor.

Externally, the van wears steelies finished with plastic hubcaps. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, it lowers production costs, which in turn creates savings that are then passed on to customers. Secondly, it lowers maintenance costs, as these rims are designed to take the occasional hammering from street furniture.

Functional Cabin

All of the Combo-e’s switchgear has come out of the Stellantis parts bin. And this is no bad thing, as they are all quality-feeling components that are also used on their passenger cars. You’d not find any soft-touch materials in this interior, as every surface has been made out of a hard-wearing plastic.

There are a slew of hidden features and storage cubbies in the cabin. You have your usual but very deep storage bin in front of the passenger, as well as generously deep pockets in each of the door cards. You’ll also find a flip-up compartment in front of the driver, and another hidden cubby underneath the middle seat.

Flip the backrest of said seat down, and you’d find a retractable table. Through loading is also possible on models optioned with the partition. You can remove a panel from the cargo area, and flatten the passenger seat if you need to carry exceptionally long objects.

Comfortable on the Road

The pros of an electric powertrain and car-based underpinnings are really apparent here. This van does not behave like a traditional ICE commercial vehicle from even just a decade ago. It is refined, has smooth overall power delivery, and is fairly relaxing to drive.

You’ll find a 134 bhp electric motor that also chucks out 260 Nm of torque. This drive unit  resides under the bonnet, and propels the front wheels. It may seem paltry on paper, but it feels properly spritely in real-life. Opel claims it has a payload of 753 kilograms, and a total load space of up to 3.9 cubic metres.

An overboosted steering rack gives up steering feel for long-distance driving comfort. And you’d be spending a lot of time doing just that, seeing that it is capable of almost 300 kilometres on a single charge. It’d also only take 30 minutes from 10 – 80% at a DC 50kW charger.

The Best of Both Worlds

The Opel Combo-e then, is really two vehicles packaged into one. It is an incredibly competent compact LCV, that’d comfortably swallow most of what a small business can throw at it. 

After all the work is done, it serves as a fantastic daily driver. There’s plenty of space in the cabin upfront, good all-round visibility and is silent and efficient to use. It isn’t far-fetched to say that it is the best of both worlds!

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