Three Months with a Mercedes eVito Van (vs. Tesla Model Y)

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Arran from Regenev has bought himself an electric Mercedes! No, not a luxury sedan to swan around in, but a van to cart around his stuff for installing EV chargers. The eVito Tourer has proven itself economical and fit for purpose, a better choice than the vans bought for the ARENA trials I reported on here. Perhaps one of the lessons learnt might be — don’t go for the cheapest option or wait for a little bit.

If you are interested in the specs, you can check them here. Here are the basics:

• Engine power: 204 hp (150 kW)
• Vehicle length: 5.14 m
• Vehicle height: 1.89 m
• Seats (series/max. count): 8/9
• Payload: 652 kg
• Gross vehicle weight: 3.5 t

In a wise move, Mercedes-Benz doesn’t quote a range.

Arran was impressed with the 90 kWh battery and the 300 km range, even when not in eco mode. The eVito Tourer is designed as a people mover. Arran and his family spent the first week driving it around as the family car. Then, when he was sure of the vehicle, he ripped out the extra seats and had the van kitted out for work — livery and all. Now he has a van with six cubic metres of space!

Removing the seats was quite a task. “I was surprised at how heavy they were. Naturally that made a difference to the range. I think it added about another 200 km!” When empty, Arran gets about 500 km. The van is now a working vehicle, fitted out with racks and stock, and he gets about 450 km of range, which is plenty for a normal day’s run around Queensland’s tourist capital, the Gold Coast. If “the boys” have to go further for an installation (say, to the Sunshine Coast — 100 km away), there are plenty of Tesla Superchargers to keep them on the road.

Arran has long driven electric vehicles, starting with a Nissan Leaf. He reminisces: “The Leaf had a 42 kW battery on board, the range was around 260 km most days. The problem I had with the Leaf was, when we stacked it with the pod and ladders on the top of the roof, it reduced the range. I’m estimating it would have been reduced by 80 to 100 km, leaving me not enough to run around Brisbane and back to the coast without a DC fast charge. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great car as a run around, we purchased the Nissan Leaf new from a dealership on the Gold Coast, I owned the Leaf for a year and a half, it was white with the ReGenEV logos and printing.”

Arran’s small business fleet now consists of two Tesla Model 3 sedans, one Model Y, a Model X (mainly used for trade shows), and of course the Mercedes eVito. He has his eye on an MG Cyberster. I joked that the MG would be his “midlife crisis car!” The Mercedes van is replacing the Model Y. “It is better to get all the equipment inside the van, rather than stacked on top of the SUV. The ladders and equipment pod really reduced the efficiency of the vehicle,” He explained.

In 2021, Arran started looking for a van for his business. He needed significant range and the ability to carry stock and tools. The closest he found was the newly introduced MG ZS EV, but the range was too low. The vans I wrote about in the CleanTechnica article above were not available in 2021. So, the Model Y it was. Arran had also been using his Model 3s as packhorses, loaded up and with tools on top. Not ideal! Especially when going bush!

Australia has had a couple of good options arrive in the last few months. He checked out the VW ID. Buzz Cargo (Arran thinks he will buy one of these just for the nostalgic fun!) and the LDV eDeliver 7 (the range wasn’t high enough). But when a Regenev customer told him about the Mercedes eVito Tourer that he had driven on holidays in New Zealand, Arran took a looksee. (This demonstrates the power of word of mouth.) The tourer is the same price as the Mercedes tradie van version, but with a better battery. Perhaps Mercedes should spend some money and advertise this vehicle.

At AU$80,000, the Mercedes offered the best value for money. The electric version is still AU$20,000 more expensive than the diesel model, but I am sure the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) will even that out. Plus. Customers might be left scratching their heads if an EV charger installer showed up in a vehicle powered by diesel.

Arran has driven the van for over 6,000 km during the last 3 months, so I asked him what the pros and cons were. He enthusiastically replied: “The regen is fantastic. The van has heaps of room. The efficiency is unbelievable. The range on the Y would go down as you watched, when fully loaded. The Mercedes seems to manage the energy better. Combining regen with eco mode and not having the equipment pod on the roof gives greater efficiency. If I turn off the air conditioning, the range goes up another 30 km!”

On the downside, the Mercedes does not have the “smarts” to take into account external factors like wind speed and gradient when calculating range. “The software is not as sophisticated as the Tesla,” he told me. “Yet,” I added.

One day, just as “the boys” were returning from a job, the Mercedes bricked itself. Thankfully they were only a few hundred metres from the depot and on a slope. They were able to roll the van down the hill and into the driveway. Arran had to use the key to restart the vehicle. I asked him if he opened and shut the windows. Apparently, this has happened a couple of times — but so far, not in a dangerous situation. Arran is yet to discuss this issue with Mercedes.

Regen braking has to be turned on each time you drive. A bit annoying. Another time, the brakes took a couple of seconds to respond.

In 2025, Australia is seeing more and better electric utes and vans becoming available. I’m looking forward to seeing all niches of the electric vehicle eco system well represented on our roads. The future for tradies is bright and electric.