UK businesses are about to get a new choice of electric delivery van, this time from Japanese carmaker and electrification pioneer Nissan.
Japanese automaker Nissan unveiled on Wednesday pricing for its all new fully electric Townstar compact van in the United Kingdom, which will go on sale from £29,945 (just under $A52,000 converted) in December. Two petrol versions, a short-wheelbase and long-wheelbase, will be priced from £19,475 and £20,775, respectively.
Despite the obvious price gap between the electric and petrol models, though, Nissan nevertheless believes that the electric Townstar, the successor to Nissan’s hugely successful e-NV200, will provide companies with an opportunity to future-proof their business operations and help to accelerate the transition towards electrification.
The electric model is available only in the short-wheelbase and is equipped with a 45kWh battery boasting a range of up to 300km (WLTP combined) or up to 430km in city cycle.
Able to carry a payload of up to 600kg for the short-wheelbase models, the Townstar also offers maximum braked towing capacity of 1,500kg.
The Townstar comes with what Nissan describes as “a suite of 20+ technologies” including a broad range of safety technologies and advanced driver assistance features such as Intelligent Emergency Braking, Hands-Free Parking, Intelligent Cruise Control, and Around View Monitor (AVM).
Additionally, the line-up is available in four specific trim levels with increasing levels of features – the Visia, Acenta, Tekna, and Tekna+.
There is one potential gripe however – it appears that the Townstar will not have a liquid-cooled battery. While Nissan has about-turned on the thermal management of the Ariya electric SUV, it makes no mention of this improvement for the Townstar.
Instead, it says that the Townstar ” It will combine intelligent energy management and effective battery thermal cooling in one optimised package.” Sales of Nissan’s new all-electric Townstar begin on December 1, though pre-orders will open from August 22.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.