So far, however, commercial fleet operators have a limited palette of electric models to choose from. Whereas electric passenger cars can be purchased, rented or leased, few electric vans are available on the market today.
Seeing the opportunities provided by this segment of the market, German manufacturer Daimler (who has been working on electric vans for a while now), together with car rental company Europcar announced the creation of a partnership that would allow Daimler access to more customers.
According to the agreement, Daimler will deliver Europcar a number of Mercedes-Benz Vito E-Cell vehicles for customer trials in Hamburg and Paris.
“Electric mobility is becoming an increasingly important consideration for cities and metropolitan areas,” said Andreas Burkhart, head of Sales at Mercedes-Benz Vans.
“We have to find solutions for enabling low-emission delivery operations as well as low-emission public transit. We are already offering such a solution in the form of the Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL - a full-fledged electric van for everyday use. Together with Europcar we will show how electric vans can optimally be used and rented to customers at fair terms.”
The electric Vito is powered by a combination of electric motor and battery which gives it a range of 130 kilometers. The motor develops 60 kW and 280 Nm of torque, enough to give it a top speed of 80 km/h (limited by the manufacturer.
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