Opel, known as Vauxhall in the UK, will electrify all light commercial vehicles by 2021. Enough for us to take a look at the all-electric van Vivaro-e and its passenger car variant, the Zafira-e. Our editor had a short test drive with both vehicles in Germany.

BYD sold more New Energy Vehicles in August than in July. If the sales figures of the country’s largest NEV manufacturer are taken as an indicator, the situation on the Chinese market for New Energy Vehicles could calm down a bit. For the year as a whole, however, the number of EV sales remains in […]

Citroën continues to electrify their commercial vehicles and has announced the launch of the ë-Jumper this year. Following the smaller ë-Jumpy (and its passenger van counterpart, the ë-Spacetourer), the large van will now be available as an electric version.

Electrically-powered commercial vehicles: Opel will also offer an electric version of its Movano van in 2021. Next year, the Opel Combo Cargo will also be available as an electric version. Meanwhile, the new Opel Vivaro-e, which can already be ordered, will be delivered from October.

Amazon orders more than 1,800 electric transporters from Mercedes-Benz Vans. The order includes around 600 eVito and more than 1,200 eSprinter delivery vans, with Amazon expecting deliveries to begin this year. This is the largest order for electric vehicles from Mercedes transporter unit to date.

Bollinger Motors plans to make an all-electric delivery van starting in 2022. The electric vehicle start-up joins a growing market with manufacturers gearing up to bring commercial EVs to finally feed the demand from major delivery fleets.

The Guinness Book of World Records has yet another curious entry. British tinkerer Edd China now holds the title for the world’s fastest electric ice cream van, with a measured top speed of 118.964 kph (73.921 mph), among six other records.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) has used the summer break at its Hanover plant to revamp for producing the new Multivan and purely electric ID.Buzz in Germany from 2022. In short, Hanover is preparing for the future models of the Bulli family that sees increasing electrification.

Fiat released pricing of its all-electric van running as the e-Ducato that will be available for less than GPB 50,000. So far the first variant is exclusive to people ordering in Great Britain with deliveries to start during the final quarter of this year.

The London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) is developing a conversion programme for its VN5 van. This involves various superstructures with which the plug-in hybrid electric van with a range extender can be adapted for different industries.

In the UK, Waitrose and John Lewis have announced plans to significantly increase the use of electric vans to help fulfil their goal of ending the use of fossil fuels across their entire transport fleet by 2030.

Opel’s sister brand Vauxhall booked another large order for electric vehicles. After British Gas had ordered 1,000 Vivaro-e in July, Vauxhall now reports an order from Openreach, one of the UK’s largest fleet operators, for 270 Vivaro-e and nine Corsa-e.

In Germany, Quantron AG has revealed further details of its future plans at a press conference marking the end of a four-week practical test of the electric conversion Mercedes Econic-based waste collection vehicle.

In China, the decline in sales figures for new energy vehicles appears to be levelling off as some manufacturers’ sales figures for July seem to indicate. The Xpeng P7 market launch also apparently went well.

The German startup Electric Brands has announced the eBussy – an electric modular light vehicle (class L7e) designed with two variable chassis and 10 different body options. Series production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2021 with a contract manufacturer in Heinsberg.

The e-commerce giant Amazon has announced its largest deployment of electric mobility in Germany to date. The distribution centre in Essen has been equipped with 340 charging stations and operates more than 150 electric delivery vehicles every day.

The parcel service DPD now has over 700 electric vehicles in use in the UK, and has thus reached its target of electrifying ten per cent of its UK fleet five months earlier than planned.

The commercial vehicle conversion company Quantron has announced a hydrogen transporter based on the Iveco Daily. The hydrogen drives from AE Driven Solutions (AEDS) are to be offered initially as a panel van and flatbed.

The Southampton City Council has taken delivery of 24 Renault Kangoo ZE vans, which will be used in the upkeep of the city and contribute to its goal of 90 per cent of its fleet to be zero-emission by 2030.

The relative newcomer in the electric vehicle space, Rivian, has raised another 2.5 billion dollars in its latest round of funding. Existing investors BlackRock and Amazon chipped in again with others joining in this time, among them the fund of George Soros.

The Opel sister brand Vauxhall has received an order from British Gas for 1,000 fully electric vans, the Vivaro-e. According to the manufacturer, this is the largest commercial order for electric vehicles in the UK to date.

Royal Mail is testing a prototype version of LEVC’s new range-extender electric van, the VN5. The postal service is one of 25 businesses taking part in the British trial, which will last until Q4.

After a three-month construction period, battery manufacturer Microvast celebrated the topping-out ceremony of its new European headquarters and the production building for Li-ion battery systems in Ludwigsfelde.

The UK-based Engie has agreed to launch a partnership with waste management company Biffa to provide electric vehicle charging facilities across their UK sites. This is to support Biffa’s ‘Resourceful, Responsible’ sustainability strategy.

The Austrian government is increasing purchase premiums and subsidies for charging infrastructure for zero-emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles from 1 July. This includes zero-emission and plug-in hybrid cars, zero-emission heavy and light commercial vehicles, zero-emission buses, and electric two-wheelers – including e-motorbikes, mopeds, e-bikes and e-cargo bikes. 

California now requires manufacturers to sell a gradually increasing proportion of electric trucks, vans and pickup trucks from 2024 onwards until 2035. By the year 2045, every new commercial vehicle sold in the US state should have zero-emission propulsion.

Commercial electric vehicle supplier Lightning Systems continues to grow and expand its operations. With more than $32 million in pending orders from commercial and government fleets, the company is more than tripling the size of its manufacturing, research and development facility in Loveland, Colorado.

The UK government has awarded £73.5 million in funding through the Advanced Propulsion Centre. This includes ten projects in the automotive sector to develop technologies to reduce CO2 emissions. A significant proportion of the money is being spent on furthering electric vehicle production and technology.

The English city of Leeds has taken delivery of 122 Renault Kangoo Z.E. electric vans. The city will use 102 in its services and will make the remaining 20 available to local companies as part of a new test programme called EV Trials Scheme.

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.