Electrification is costly, there is no way of hiding that. The engineering involved, the materials, the still prohibitive cost of battery packs. Everything adds up. Automakers are looking at ways of making it more affordable, though. Or at least look like. For example, if you are out and about shopping for the luxurious Mercedes-Benz EQV and do not want to shell out over 70k of euros one could choose the eVito Tourer instead.
The automaker just announced the start of sales for the fully electric people carrier and revealed the pricing information for the home market of Germany. Interested customers will need to shell out at least 53,990 without even taking into consideration the local VAT. Circle back to the starting point when we told you electrification is expensive – and add that with the three-pointed star’s reputation.
For the money Mercedes-Benz is offering the increased comfort of a passenger-car equivalent to the eVito van. The latter could have a hard time if the competition has its way – for example Opel recently announced anyone can order the Vivaro-e panel van from €35,650 (again, excluding VAT).
And these models will find enough clients because the German authorities just raised the government bonus for electric vehicles to €9,000 until December 31st. Unfortunately for the eVito Tourer, the new amount is only available for list prices below the €40,000 but the recent economic crisis still triggered the introduction of a generous bonus of €7,500 for pricier EVs.
The eVito Tourer is motivated by the company’s eATS electric powertrain (same as the EQV) and has a maximum output power of 150 kW. A lithium-ion battery pack is located beneath the passenger floorboard and storage capacity reaches 100 kWh (90 kWh usable). Range is up to 421 km (261+ miles) and the eVito Tourer arrives with two body options.
One is 5,140 mm and the second is 5,370 mm long (202.4 - to 211.4 inches), enough for up to nine passengers. Cargo capacity varies between 999 and 1390 liters and the people carrier is able to long-haul at a comfortable maximum speed of either 140 kph (87 mph) or 160 kph (99 mph). Recharging is also reasonably fast, with a maximum of 11kW on AC and 50 or 110 kW at public DC fast charging.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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