LEVC shows new electric van with eight seats

The British Geely subsidiary LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) has applied for approval in China for its first model based on the pure BEV platform SOA, which was presented in May. It remains to be seen whether the van with up to eight seats will also be launched on the European market.

The model is officially called the Xspace MPV L380 and is an electric van around 5.30 metres long, which will be offered with a choice of six or eight seats. The code number 380 is intended to indicate the spaciousness of the model, as the manufacturer explained to the portal Car News China that there is space “like in an Airbus A380”.

The LEVC L380 has a 200 kW motor from Viridi E-Mobility Technology (VREMT) and an NMC battery from CATL, the capacity of which is not yet known. The unladen weight is said to be 2.8 tonnes, while LEVC specifies a wheelbase of 3.19 metres. While other eight-seater vans usually have one row of seats with two seats and two rows with three seats each, the L380 will have four rows of seats with two seats each.

The BEV van is to be built at the plant in Zhejiang, where the LEVC TX taxi also rolls off the production line. However, this is still a range extender model, whose manageable battery range is increased by a 1.5-litre combustion engine as a generator. As there is still no information on the battery size in the new L380, the range is also still unknown.

The SOA (Space Oriented Architecture) platform presented in May is a modified version of the Geely SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) platform, which has been optimised for commercial vehicles. The SEA is used in models ranging from the Smart #1 to the large Zeekr 009 and Volvo EM90 vans, which are essentially comparable to the LEVC L380. However, the vans from Geely and Volvo are designed for the private customer market with numerous luxury features, while LEVC is primarily aimed at fleet customers such as transport services.

In May, it was announced that there would be three battery variants for the SOA, specifically with 73 kWh, 102 kWh or 120 kWh energy content. As the L380, with its length of 5.30 metres, is more in the middle range of what the platform allows (4.86 to 5.99 metres), at least the 102 kWh pack should be possible. Other vehicles with a wheelbase of over three metres can also accommodate battery packs with an energy content of over 100 kWh. Incidentally, a maximum wheelbase of 3.80 metres is possible with the SOA.

It is not yet known when exactly and in which markets the new electric van from LEVC will be launched.

carnewschina.com