I have had an ENV200 for 5 years and it works well for me as a domestic electrician covering a 25/30 mile radius. I have home charging at 7p kW so a lot cheaper to run than when I had a diesel van of similar size. I do agree that they won’t meet everyone’s needs but it is improving all the time.
I work for a DNO one of my jobs is dealing with voltage complaints which is becoming more common mostly car charge points. The main issue is the networks weren't designed for the electronics and protection in modern tech its not unusual to see 20v diffrent throughput the day. I went to a property with solar that was pushing the voltage up to 272v but after fitting a voltage recorder the voltage was going as low as 230v after some investigation there is atleast 6 customers with solar on the same phase on the cable back to the substation so all the inverters fighting to push back to the transformer untill one gives up and sends an alarm
So maybe we need to make more properties 3 phase. I hear a number of DNOs are converting Looped connections to 3 phase for free. Can't understand why new builds are not 3 phase from construction. Should be made mandatory in my opinion.
I would avoid the Buzz as the payload is limited to 650kg, less than a transit connect or caddy maxi. I was all set up to order 2 a when they launched as the local main dealer was under the impression it was taking over from the T6.1 to then inform us they just weren't suitable. Hopefully the LWB version will be much better but no guarantee.
At the moment, I don't feel that electric vans are viable unless you are only local, or have to work in clean air zones.... I have driven a PHEV for a year now, and think that has to be the way forward for now. Economy is good, and you have fairly green credentials if you have to move 'in the zone'! Mileage costs are also good (I used to have a diesel) with petrol being so much cheaper than diesel. If you are spending overnights as described with your current van, can you take your 'granny' charger with you even though it's slow? 10A charging overnight will add quite a bot of range for you.
Once again an unbiased opinion on EV van transition. EV van are getting better, however still a long way to got on the battery tech, it’s ok for our business model 60 mile radius and I have a spare diesel van. Perfect for Royal Mail, Amazon, but not so good for a business that can’t or don’t what to change and that’s ok. On the infrastructure the gas pipes have been upgrading pipes for years digging up street blocking up traffic that was the opportunity to upgrade every property electrical connection, we can’t even getting New Builds to have a 3 phase. The latest figures to upgrade the electrical infrastructure to meet net Zero is £ 60 Billion.
Let's be honest a Stellantis EV (which is renound for poor efficiency on their EV drive train) and a small 50kWh battery (45kWh usable) this isn't meant for long distance motorway driving. Hopefully you can get it swapped out for something that suits your purpose. Also if you are regularly charging I would definitely recommend subscribing to the Tesla supercharger network and Ionity network. Around £8/month each subscription but it reduces charging costs considerably on the rapid chargers.
@@electrician247 good good. I don't think many people realise these subscriptions exist. No brainer if you use the rapid charger network a few times a month 👍
I have a good few vans and i did look at electric, i had a problem with firstly the price of the van and it's resale value, i paid £12.995 plus vat for a new Citroen berlingo diesel in 2022 and i've recently just sold it via ebay for £13k plus vat so lost no money and i've found it like this since 2019, Same with a Mercedes sprinter van it had lost £2750 and it was getting near 3 years old but it did have under 20k miles on it, i did some sums and thought 70p-80p charging per kw and my problem was paying someone £14.50 an hour to sit there, so just had a new Citroen berlingo driver diesel delivered a few weeks ago what was £17,500 plus vat, it worried me too if ever there was a power cut and no vans can go out and the cost to get say 5 hire vans quick,
Interesting comments on using EV's for your local business, I would also like to mention that another issue for home businesses is home charging, not easy. For me EV's are good locally with office charging, but for longer journeys, e.g. more than 50 miles and nowhere to charge at your work place makes Diesel the better solution at least for the next 10 years or so
Yes home charging and billing can be a problem but easily worked around with the likes of Monta etc. I often charge at home and bill the business. As I said in the video without off street parking it’s a non starter.
My Caddy is on 230k. I'm looking to replace it, but my average is 90 - 100 miles a day. Most small evs are no good for that range. The areas i work in do not have street charging, and generally, I have a temp board while replacing the board, so only trickle charge available. Toyota are looking at other options. Nissan are looking at solid state units. Next Ford are cancelling ev factorys and looking at hydrogen. Most new diesels (new ford custom & Stellantis group) have wet belt engines, which are a bad idea!! Ford 1.5k to replace belt, the latter cheaper. Next, the deprecation - I have 5 customers who can't afford to get rid of their evs - they all have gone into negitave equity. For me, it's all a mess at the moment.... i think I'm going to hold on to the caddy!
@deansh8506 Several things currently... I only have space for a small van. Yeah, the range is 170 miles, which would be ok for work. But that range probably isn't the van fully loaded. 80 -90 % is motorway driving. Then there is winter & only charging the battery to 80% to maintain the battery. 99.999% of my customers do not have an ev charger & no on street charging. I also do long drives for leisure to Wales, Norfolk, Surrey. I go to Kent twice a month from north Essex - the hills coming back would drop the range- I would have to stop and charge - On a Friday night, I just want to get home! I like the idea but for me it's not there yet - I'm going to hold out, the caddy will do another 100k, my passat is on 350k. There will be other options: Toyota have just released an ammonia engine for a car. It is being developed for ships and haulage.
Wouldn't have one given, get 700 mile range on my vivaro with heating or ac on. Be like swapping my 90l tank for 10l one, fuel up once a week usually, takes 5 mins, go anywhere.... really can't see the appeal in EV ok if you chop them in every 3 years or so but 5 years battery will be fried and the vans basically a milk float for local jobs
@electrician247 yeah that's a fair point, in that market I suppose it boosts your credibility, in principal EVs I think could be amazing but the reality just now is the range on comercial is poor, and the battery lifespan just doesn't make sense to me, very interested in JCB and their hydrogen engines, seems a much more realistic idea..
What the hell made you buy an ev van ? I’ve used a diesel van for decades, with minimal issues. I keep them for about 4 years, so no major problems Obviously tyres, but that’s about it. I have cruise control, never ever used it, even on my car. No range anxiety, just so simple, not afraid to use the heater or AC. I seriously can’t believe a sensible electrician would even consider one of these.
I have had an ENV200 for 5 years and it works well for me as a domestic electrician covering a 25/30 mile radius.
I have home charging at 7p kW so a lot cheaper to run than when I had a diesel van of similar size.
I do agree that they won’t meet everyone’s needs but it is improving all the time.
Absolutely perfect way to use one. I would no problem at all if that’s how we used it. Which was the plan tbh lol.
I have a ID Buzz I get 260 Miles on a charge at home. I work local and charge once a week. I would not go back to diesel.
Great feedback thanks
I work for a DNO one of my jobs is dealing with voltage complaints which is becoming more common mostly car charge points. The main issue is the networks weren't designed for the electronics and protection in modern tech its not unusual to see 20v diffrent throughput the day. I went to a property with solar that was pushing the voltage up to 272v but after fitting a voltage recorder the voltage was going as low as 230v after some investigation there is atleast 6 customers with solar on the same phase on the cable back to the substation so all the inverters fighting to push back to the transformer untill one gives up and sends an alarm
Yep that is the problem in a nutshell. If you ever fancied chatting about it on the renewables podcast let me know! That would be awesome!
So maybe we need to make more properties 3 phase. I hear a number of DNOs are converting Looped connections to 3 phase for free. Can't understand why new builds are not 3 phase from construction. Should be made mandatory in my opinion.
I would avoid the Buzz as the payload is limited to 650kg, less than a transit connect or caddy maxi. I was all set up to order 2 a when they launched as the local main dealer was under the impression it was taking over from the T6.1 to then inform us they just weren't suitable. Hopefully the LWB version will be much better but no guarantee.
Another great video from a great guy
At the moment, I don't feel that electric vans are viable unless you are only local, or have to work in clean air zones....
I have driven a PHEV for a year now, and think that has to be the way forward for now. Economy is good, and you have fairly green credentials if you have to move 'in the zone'!
Mileage costs are also good (I used to have a diesel) with petrol being so much cheaper than diesel.
If you are spending overnights as described with your current van, can you take your 'granny' charger with you even though it's slow? 10A charging overnight will add quite a bot of range for you.
Once again an unbiased opinion on EV van transition. EV van are getting better, however still a long way to got on the battery tech, it’s ok for our business model 60 mile radius and I have a spare diesel van. Perfect for Royal Mail, Amazon, but not so good for a business that can’t or don’t what to change and that’s ok.
On the infrastructure the gas pipes have been upgrading pipes for years digging up street blocking up traffic that was the opportunity to upgrade every property electrical connection, we can’t even getting New Builds to have a 3 phase. The latest figures to upgrade the electrical infrastructure to meet net Zero is £ 60 Billion.
Our town relaid all the main roads and then 3 months later started digging them up to put gas pipes in. Make that make sense lol
Well, that answers that, sticking with diesel it is then 🚑
The van manufacturers have a long way to go to catch up with EV cars it seems regarding motors, batteries and software.
Let's be honest a Stellantis EV (which is renound for poor efficiency on their EV drive train) and a small 50kWh battery (45kWh usable) this isn't meant for long distance motorway driving.
Hopefully you can get it swapped out for something that suits your purpose.
Also if you are regularly charging I would definitely recommend subscribing to the Tesla supercharger network and Ionity network. Around £8/month each subscription but it reduces charging costs considerably on the rapid chargers.
I am a Tesla and IONITY subscriber. This isn’t the only vehicle we have 🤣
@@electrician247 good good. I don't think many people realise these subscriptions exist. No brainer if you use the rapid charger network a few times a month 👍
You now have Tesla opening many more chargers (If not all?) MUCH cheaper
👍
I have a good few vans and i did look at electric, i had a problem with firstly the price of the van and it's resale value, i paid £12.995 plus vat for a new Citroen berlingo diesel in 2022 and i've recently just sold it via ebay for £13k plus vat so lost no money and i've found it like this since 2019, Same with a Mercedes sprinter van it had lost £2750 and it was getting near 3 years old but it did have under 20k miles on it, i did some sums and thought 70p-80p charging per kw and my problem was paying someone £14.50 an hour to sit there, so just had a new Citroen berlingo driver diesel delivered a few weeks ago what was £17,500 plus vat, it worried me too if ever there was a power cut and no vans can go out and the cost to get say 5 hire vans quick,
Diesel definitely Mark. Love your channel.from fellow sparky 😊😊
dont put in side doors
Interesting comments on using EV's for your local business, I would also like to mention that another issue for home businesses is home charging, not easy. For me EV's are good locally with office charging, but for longer journeys, e.g. more than 50 miles and nowhere to charge at your work place makes Diesel the better solution at least for the next 10 years or so
Yes home charging and billing can be a problem but easily worked around with the likes of Monta etc. I often charge at home and bill the business. As I said in the video without off street parking it’s a non starter.
My Caddy is on 230k. I'm looking to replace it, but my average is 90 - 100 miles a day. Most small evs are no good for that range.
The areas i work in do not have street charging, and generally, I have a temp board while replacing the board, so only trickle charge available.
Toyota are looking at other options.
Nissan are looking at solid state units.
Next Ford are cancelling ev factorys and looking at hydrogen.
Most new diesels (new ford custom & Stellantis group) have wet belt engines, which are a bad idea!! Ford 1.5k to replace belt, the latter cheaper.
Next, the deprecation - I have 5 customers who can't afford to get rid of their evs - they all have gone into negitave equity.
For me, it's all a mess at the moment.... i think I'm going to hold on to the caddy!
If 90-100 miles is your average daily distance you would be ideal for an EV van.
Why wouldn't you think it doesn't suit you?
@deansh8506 Several things currently... I only have space for a small van. Yeah, the range is 170 miles, which would be ok for work. But that range probably isn't the van fully loaded. 80 -90 % is motorway driving. Then there is winter & only charging the battery to 80% to maintain the battery.
99.999% of my customers do not have an ev charger & no on street charging.
I also do long drives for leisure to Wales, Norfolk, Surrey. I go to Kent twice a month from north Essex - the hills coming back would drop the range- I would have to stop and charge -
On a Friday night, I just want to get home!
I like the idea but for me it's not there yet - I'm going to hold out, the caddy will do another 100k, my passat is on 350k.
There will be other options:
Toyota have just released an ammonia engine for a car. It is being developed for ships and haulage.
Wouldn't have one given, get 700 mile range on my vivaro with heating or ac on. Be like swapping my 90l tank for 10l one, fuel up once a week usually, takes 5 mins, go anywhere.... really can't see the appeal in EV ok if you chop them in every 3 years or so but 5 years battery will be fried and the vans basically a milk float for local jobs
We have normal vans that do 700-800 miles lol. But as a renewables biz it makes sense to try!
@electrician247 yeah that's a fair point, in that market I suppose it boosts your credibility, in principal EVs I think could be amazing but the reality just now is the range on comercial is poor, and the battery lifespan just doesn't make sense to me, very interested in JCB and their hydrogen engines, seems a much more realistic idea..
@electrician247 great video by the way,
get apple airtags take out speaker to find tools
We do
Very interesting, one question for you, which supplier eg eon, octopus etc, have you found to be best for customer service and rates etc, thanks
@@markvinter7522 as an energy company Octopus are great. Not so much on the install side tho
Think I’ll wait 5 years…
What I would give to be able to buy that van in the US.
What the hell made you buy an ev van ?
I’ve used a diesel van for decades, with minimal issues.
I keep them for about 4 years, so no major problems
Obviously tyres, but that’s about it.
I have cruise control, never ever used it, even on my car.
No range anxiety, just so simple, not afraid to use the heater or AC.
I seriously can’t believe a sensible electrician would even consider one of these.
Done it to death. Image for a renewables business.
Yet to meet a sensible electrician tho
@electrician247 well I sincerely wish you well in your renewables business, and hopefully things turn out ok.