Peugeot has hinted that it will bring a bigger more commercial-focused electric van into Australia as it rapidly expands its electric offerings in the market.
Earlier this week, we got to share our drive experience of Peugeot’s first EV in Australia, the e-Partner van, which is to be followed by the first battery electric passenger car, the e-2008 SUV, later this year and the e-208 electric hatch in 2024.
Now it appears that the bigger e-Expert delivery van could also be arriving in Australia next year.
With the van segment of the market lacking options, the e-Expert is expected to fill a large gap from delivery companies looking at reducing their impact on the environment and providing their drivers with a quieter, more comfortable work vehicle.
The e-Expert is currently available across the ditch in New Zealand with a starting price of $86,990 before on-road costs.
The powertrain has 100 kW of power and 260 Nm of torque. It’s fed by a 75 kWh battery pack. That’s 25 additional kWh capacity compared to the e-Partner pack, allowing it to get up to 339 km of WLTP range.
With AC charging, the larger 75 kWh pack can be charged at up to 7.4 kW, charging the e-Expert up to 100% in under 12 hours.
Fast-charging the e-Partner from 0-80% can also be done in around 72 minutes with speeds of up to 100 kW.
The e-Expert has a loading capacity of 5.8 cubic meters and an overall length of 4.95 metres in the medium length variant. The long-variant stretches this length to 5.30 metres.
Like the e-Partner, the twin rear doors can be opened for ease of loading while at depot or unloading goods.
More details on the local pricing and specifications will be announced closer to the launch.
With a lack of options in the electric delivery market, the e-Expert will surely win customers looking to make a bigger impact than just delivering customer orders on time.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.