SAIC brand Maxus brings electric van to the UK first

Maxus, formerly LDV and a British brand of China’s SAIC, is now taking orders for the E Deliver 3, its first compact electric van, in the UK. The E Deliver 3 had debuted as EV30 before the Maxus re-brand and is expected to arrive in September.

The Harris Group serves as the distributor in Great Britain, and Maxus says the electric van is the first to become only available as a fully electric model with no other powertrain options. SAIC is building the EV in China with the UK being the primary export market.

In terms of technology, the model has changed only slightly from the EV30 van which LDV had presented in May last year. For the version coming to the country now, Maxus offers three body options which include a short or long wheelbase panel van and an extended wheelbase platform chassis. The standard van has a cargo volume of 4.8 cubic metres and a maximum payload capacity of 905kg, while the long-wheelbase model offers respective space of 6.3 cubic metres and 1,020kg.

All three variants are powered by the same front-wheel motor with 90 kW and a top speed of 75mph (120 kph). There are, however, two battery options for a capacity of 35kWh and 52.5kWh, delivering a range of up to 98 miles and 150 miles, respectively. This is slightly less than in the initial announcement of May. Charging times range between six and eight hours for the larger battery version.

Still, Maxus stayed within the original schedule and pricing. Prices for the E Deliver 3 start from £30,000 ex. VAT (£22,800 with the plug-in van grant, ex. VAT). This makes it a competitive model on a market that also has the likes of the Renault Kangoo ZE and Nissan e-NV200 on offer in similar price brackets.

The Maxus electric van is available to order now for July delivery in the short wheelbase; the platform chassis will be available in Q3 2020, and the long-wheelbase panel van will be available in the last quarter of 2020.

saicmaxus.co.uk, commercialfleet.org, greenfleet.net, autoexpress.co.uk