Some would suggest our commercial/delivery vehicle should be a little further down ‘Electric Avenue’ by now, but there is a
vehicle manufacturer which is very much in the fast lane.
Peugeot has in fact doubled its electric van offering: Expert-ly delivering an e-Partner alongside
its ICE version and Partnering up an Expert with an electric counterpart, giving the brand four
commercial offerings, two electrics and two ICE-powered models.
While the E-Expert is the newer of the two, it is the e-Partner which takes our top award for Van of the Year this year.
NZ Company Vehicle liked the Peugeot Partner as a metro delivery concept right from its first generation back in 2009.
The second generation commanded a healthy dose of respect for its redesign, which seemed to be
driving more towards being a ‘little van’ as opposed to being an expanded hatchback.
Today, with the van’s redesign and the electric motor providing a zero-emission, near-silent powertrain, the little ‘Pug’ has become so much more attractive.
And rather than the redesign compromising the van’s innate ability to carry cargo, the e-Partner delivers the goods just as well as its ICE stablemate, if not better.
The e-Partner comes in two body lengths, each capable of carrying two Euro pallets with access from either side and via the rear barn doors, which conveniently open to 180 degrees for ease of
loading.
But it is more the ease of driving, which impressed the judges most when it came to evaluating the e-Partner as a contender for the 2023 NZ Company Vehicle awards.
It has long been the intention of van makers to replicate a car’s driveability and typically, vans which have won international Van of the Year awards have lived up to that intention.
The Partner won International Van of the Year back in 2019 and – given electric vehicles tend to handle better than their petrol equivalents by virtue of their lower centres of gravity and increased mass through the battery – the car-like qualities of the e-Partner were never going to be in dispute.
And yet, for all that the handling is very car-like, the e-Partner cabin is exactly what you would expect of a van in terms of all-day comfortable ergonomics, thus the 245km (useable range) can be handled with ease from the driver’s standpoint. With everything above taken into consideration, the e-Partner rightly deserves the title of Van of the Year from NZ Company
Vehicle for 2023.
