Automakers find opportunity in electric vans

In the rush towards electric vehicles, automakers are increasingly sparing an idea for the simple delivery van, a frequently overlooked segment with huge development potential since tightening pollution restrictions in city areas.

Given sticking around customer concerns about expense and charging facilities, many in the industry anticipate it will take at least a decade for electrical vehicles (EVs) to win over mainstream car owners.

However as e-commerce starts to dominate the retail sector and cities clamp down on contamination, more automakers see chances for faster take-up of EVs as delivery vehicles, taxis and other business uses in dense, urban locations.

At the Tokyo Motor Show which opened to the public on Friday, Nissan Motor, an early embracer of EV innovation and maker of the Leaf, the world’s top-selling electric vehicle, revealed a concept of its e-NV200 electrical van with refrigeration abilities, created to carry chilled food to restaurants and homes.

“Envision if you have city access to challenges, how will you get food provided to restaurants, and goods to clients?” stated Ashwani Gupta, head of the light industrial business at the automaking alliance of Nissan and France’s Renault SA.

“There’s no other alternative but to go electric.”

Nissan plans to introduce the refrigeration model in Japan next year, Gupta stated. Both Nissan and Renault currently market electric vans in Europe.

Nissan is also aiming to introduce the e-NV200 series in China in the near term as it anticipates demand will “take off” as big cities in the nation efficiently ban gasoline and diesel trucks and vans in an effort to punish emissions.