What Small Van

[Munroast]

My old berlingo 1.6hdi, is coming to its end -

van rarely gets up to running temperature these days, lots of 2 - 3 mile journeys, not sure another diesel with a particular filter is a good idea ? (my 09 plate van don't have one)

What about petrol vans ? or even an electric (lol)

anyone any thoughts

 

[Burnerman]

I'd go for a petrol Berlingo if I was in the running, but the Peugeot Bipper Tepee is also available in petrol and the road tax is much cheaper than the commercial version.
I do feel that diesels have had their day.
My tiny Bipper has the same tax band as a Merc Sprinter which is most unfair.
The Tepee / Multispace versions can also access waste tips without a permit, and the seats come out easily - and a plastic boot liner is available.
New vans are hellishly expensive, and the depreciation is meteoric.
John

 

[Avocet]

My old berlingo 1.6hdi, is coming to its end -

van rarely gets up to running temperature these days, lots of 2 - 3 mile journeys, not sure another diesel with a particular filter is a good idea ? (my 09 plate van don't have one)

What about petrol vans ? or even an electric (lol)

anyone any thoughts

What sort of payload do you need, and could you charge at home if it was an EV? Does it ever do long runs?

 

[Munroast]

What sort of payload do you need, and could you charge at home if it was an EV? Does it ever do long runs?

nothing heavy, cargo space size of a partner/berlingo
could charge at home, and house is covered in solar panels
once every other month 150 mile round trip

Have thought about an EV van, but older ones seem to be very limited in miles per charge. EV would be great, could de-ice it before I went out. Often my van chugs away on the driveway to get the ice off the window, longer than the time it takes to drive to where i am going

Today - 8 x 2 mile journeys, and that's typical of its life. Modern diesel with DPF would be a disaster - still think petrol would be best. But can't find anything for sale locally - they're all diesel.

 

[Avocet]

nothing heavy, cargo space size of a partner/berlingo
could charge at home, and house is covered in solar panels
once every other month 150 mile round trip

Have thought about an EV van, but older ones seem to be very limited in miles per charge. EV would be great, could de-ice it before I went out. Often my van chugs away on the driveway to get the ice off the window, longer than the time it takes to drive to where i am going

Today - 8 x 2 mile journeys, and that's typical of its life. Modern diesel with DPF would be a disaster - still think petrol would be best. But can't find anything for sale locally - they're all diesel.

An EV would work very well for that indeed. The next question, is how much do you want to spend? We convert the e-Rifter (the Peugeot-badged Berlingo replacement) for wheelchair access at work. The e-Partner is the van version of the same vehicle. It won't do 150 miles at motorway speeds. You'd probably get 100 out of it in winter on the motorway. 150 shouldn't be too much of a problem on A roads in summer. Personally, I'd be happy to take the hit and use a public charger for 15-20 minutes on the occasional long run and rake in the savings the rest of the time. The Vauxhall e-Combo is the same van. Also worth looking at the Renault Kangoo e-Tech or the Ford e-Transit Courier, or Nissan Townstar. Trouble is, even with the serious depreciation for which EVs are famed, they're still a good chunk of money.

 

[Diver Fred]

>>Snip<< Modern diesel with DPF would be a disaster - still think petrol would be best. But can't find anything for sale locally - they're all diesel.

It wasn't the DPF that killed my last diesel vehicle - it was the ERG valve. (£900 repair at an independent garage, over double that at a main dealers)