Fear of the unknown or pragmatic analysis? There are two ways to view the enforced advent of electric LCVs and resistance towards operating them. The biggest issue – that of public charging points – is thankfully moving somewhat, a 37% increase in the last year, but still has some way to go. The initial cost of the vehicles is still far higher than the combustion-engined equivalents, but again the situation is improving – particularly in the case of lease deals – as manufacturers strive to meet the government’s targets for sales.
So, the air of inevitability has given way to a more considered view of how best to operate these vehicles and how to cause minimal disturbance to your current operating procedures.
Path of least resistance
Let’s start with the similarities between diesel and electric vans. We are having to carry the same payload, over the same uphill, down-dale, city traffic and motorway routes, spend the same time on site and get home at a reasonable hour – right? So, is it purely the issue of range and ‘refuelling’ time that makes the difference or do we need to rip up the rule book and learn to drive all over again? The truth is somewhere between the two extremes. Just as with a diesel van, the less fuel we can use, the better, and this is where the issue of regeneration leads to confusion. No matter how efficient the regenerative braking is, (if it were 100% effective you would never need to plug in again!), no matter which mode you set it to, it is still a far less efficient way to use the battery than not using power at all. The one thing you were always told to avoid when driving from day one is now your best friend – coasting.
Few electric vehicles allow a full coasting mode, seemingly so that they feel like a conventional vehicle to drive, but those which do, can reap the benefits. Those which can switch to a full coasting mode might do it automatically – the most sophisticated electric cars use ‘situational’ regeneration, so that will eventually transfer to LCVs no doubt. This uses satnav info to understand the hazards coming up, whether that be a hill, bend, roundabout or traffic jam, to assess when to coast and when to automatically brake – regeneratively in this case – but Mercedes and Volvo use the same systems on their diesel HGVs already. In the EV, the driver has not touched the brake pedal at all during the approach. Also bear in mind that when you do operate the brake pedal in a BEV, most or even all of the braking effect will be regeneration – the motor acting as a generator and the kinetic force acting as a brake – rather than actually applying pad to disc. Some manufacturers claim as much as 85% of all braking on a journey is regenerative only. Beyond that the old rules apply equally here. Don’t carry more tools or material than you need, or aerodynamically-damaging roof rack loads.
Think about the route too. Where a longer distance around the ring road was more economical than queuing through the city, the electric van only uses energy for distance driven, jams do no harm to its economy and with no overdrive gears to cut the revs, travelling at 60mph uses twice the energy than it does at 30mph – even ignoring wind resistance. That is one area where the BEV is totally different to the diesel van – city traffic actually has less energy consumption than motorway cruising.
Two paddles, one pedal, no problem
Most vans now have switchable regeneration modes. Various systems are used from steering wheel paddles selecting up to five levels, to one switch for full or partial regeneration. Full regeneration has coined the phrase ‘One-Pedal Driving’. Here lifting off the accelerator at 30mph sees a small car-derived van come to a complete halt in around 30 metres. With a little practice, in city traffic you can literally drive all day using just the accelerator pedal, and it is easier to get used to than it sounds.
However, it is not the most efficient way, and you can only achieve coasting by permanently having one eye on the power meter to check it’s in the mid-point between usage and regeneration. Not so easy. There’s an argument here to switch to a lesser regeneration mode, making it easier to hit the coasting sweet spot and use the brake pedal as required – which is mainly or purely regenerative anyhow. Yes it all sounds like a right pain to get right, but it’s no different from picking the right gear, being in the torque band of the turbo or easing off early for the traffic lights in a diesel van. You’ve done it for years.
The amount of power you use can be selected too. Most electric vans will have at least a couple driving modes. Usually Eco or Range, and then Power or Sport. Obviously the Eco or Range mode is the one to get the most from the battery. It will ‘lengthen’ the accelerator travel, giving less power per inch pressed. It may limit the top speed to 100kph (62mph) which is also handy to prevent injudicious use of the electro-instant torque having an effect on the health of your licence, and it will limit the urgency of pace from a standstill or away from a roundabout. Don’t fear using it, as it is overridden to allow full power if you floor the pedal in an emergency.
Tyres are a big issue too, as the weight of the batteries has a big effect – notice the width of tyres on mid-range saloons and estate cars which have turned to battery power. The effect on the unladen mass of the van is the same. Witness the lifting of the 3.5t limit for a car licence holder to 4.25t for a battery LCV. However, we so far are not seeing wide tyres appear on vans – the lower rolling resistance of narrow tyres counts a lot toward battery range and eco tyres have compounds to help too, but tyre suppliers comment regularly on the wear rates seen on EVs. Budget for a higher tyre consumption in your running costs.
Finally, consider where we are in the big picture. It’s early days for ‘modern’ EVs, the lessons learned from the Baker electric carriage of the early 1900s in the US, or British milk floats of the 1960s bear little fruit today – although poor infrastructure killed off the former and limited use the latter. EVs right now are more like the Ford Model T in its day. A step-change pointing the way ahead, but a long way from the zenith of development. So are today’s BEV LCVs revolutionary? Or are they just the start of decades of gradual increments? Only time will tell.
Battery matters
Battery charging is the main difficulty in operating an electric van but battery health is a big issue too, often overlooked. Firstly, if you can charge your van at home overnight (budget for a least £1,000 to install a box) then you’ve avoided a lot of hassle and pence-per-mile operating cost. In very approximate terms, if you charge on a domestic tariff you will be seeing something like half the cost per mile travelled compared to the same size diesel van at today’s pump prices. In short, it’s like having your van double its mpg. However, if you have to charge at a public point – for now ignoring the hassle of actually finding one/one that works/one that’s not got a queue etc – then that cost saving can be slashed by 50 to 75%. VAT is partly to blame, 5% at home and the full retail 20% at a public point, plus any increases the operator has in place. Naturally, just like diesel, the motorway service area will be costlier still.
The total number of discharge/recharge cycles determines the battery’s working life, but how you charge it has a big effect too. Rapid charging the battery is much worse than charging it slowly. A domestic wallbox charger can supply 7.2kW (32 amps). For a nominal 75kWph battery in a 3t vanm that’s over 10 hours where one of the latest rapid charges could see that in less than two hours. However you would probably only use an expensive motorway services rapid charger to put 15 minutes worth in to see you home. To charge slowly, most electric vehicles will allow you to limit the input from the charger to 16 amps, or even lower, and many wallboxes and their associated app will do the same. Although this obviously takes longer, it’s better for the battery.
Best practice says you should avoid running the battery down below 20% and not charge it to more than 80%. That means you are operating with only 60% of the theoretical total range. But as ranges increase with each new van that’s launched, you should be able to achieve it on a few days per week, which helps. It takes longer to charge in the winter and, of course, at lower temperatures the battery provides much less range anyhow, so always set the vehicle to pre-condition the battery when charging. This actually warms the battery to accept charge more easily whilst also heating the cab and defrosting the windows. You can also set it to pre-condition on the way to a charge station which will allow a more rapid and efficient charge process, but not if you are desperately low on range already as the pre-conditioning takes some power itself.
