Electric vans continued to gain market share in 2023 – major logistics companies locally have at least partially electrified their fleets.

Thankfully, consumers still have the option to buy ICE light commercial vehicles. That being said, they are a relative rarity now, with several companies only selling electric versions of their minivans. It makes sense for a large logistics firm to go electric – they can equip their depots with charging facilities. However, can small businesses really afford to ditch internal combustion?

We’ve lined up two different comparisons, of vans built on the same chassis to find out.

Peugeot Partner vs Peugeot e-Partner

We did a detailed breakdown of their technical differences here. You can also refer to this table for a concise look at their specifications:

	Partner	e-Partner
Purchase Price	$48,000(w/o COE)	$53,888(w/o COE)
Power	129 bhp, 300Nm	134 bhp, 260 Nm
Efficiency	21.7 km/l	5.4 km/kWh
Range	800 kilometres	300 kilometres
Cost Per Kilometre	8 km per dollar	9 km per dollar

The diesel van costs marginally more to run, but has significantly more range. It however has slightly less power than the electric version, and the difference off-the-line is noticeable. If you have a solid charging strategy, the real-world 300 kilometre range of the e-Partner isn’t bothersome at all.

It’d charge to 80% from 10% in about the time it takes for you to have lunch. And you can also opt to plug in at the end of your work day, so it can AC charge overnight. When you wake up the very next morning, the van should be fully charged and ready for another day of deliveries.

Nissan NV200 vs BYD T3

The two vans look very similar. That is because BYD secured the rights to use Nissan’s B platform, and much of the NV200’s underlying structure, to build the T3.

	Nissan NV200	BYD T3
Purchase Price	$95,800	$53,800(w/o COE)
Power	111 bhp, 150Nm	134 bhp, 210 Nm
Efficiency	11.5 km/L	5.58 km/kWh
Range	700 kilometres	280 kilometres
Cost Per Kilometre	5 km per dollar	10 km per dollar

Both the T3 and the NV200 can be purchased via a number of parallel importers. The former has been delivered in petrol, diesel and even in electric guise. The BYD can also be bought with a larger 50.3 kWh battery pack from the PIs.

For the purposes of this article, we’ve also compared the vans in the spec we’ve driven them in. The vans featured are also distributed by the authorised dealers. From this comparison, it is clear that the BYD is cheaper to run and significantly more powerful.

Without the finicky CVT transmission of the NV200, the T3 should cost less to maintain too. However, our testing has revealed a sizable range difference between the two, so businesses have to decide if the running cost savings are worth the hassle in the charging downtimes.

Buy Electric, or Stick With Internal Combustion?

From our comparison, it is clear that electric vans are cheaper to run, at least in the short term. Expect cost savings of about 30 – 35% over the equivalent ICE commercial vehicle. You can also save more by relying less on public charging networks, and using your own internal chargers.

Electric vans also feel less sluggish, and are more refined than their diesel or petrol counterparts. Modern battery technology is also robust enough, so you should notexperience significant battery degradation in the first 10 years of ownership.

With ICE vans, there isn’t a need to install supporting infrastructure on your premises for greater cost savings. However, long-term maintenance is a factor that needs to be considered, as the high mileage nature of a logistics company can put serious strain on the powertrain of the vehicle.

If you are a small business looking for a van that you can just start up and move off with no worries, you’d be better off with an ICE van. Then again, if your businesses doesn’t require you to constantly be on the road, the cost savings offered by an EV van is very hard to ignore!

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