Electric vans are now arriving almost as fast as electric cars & the latest alongside sister model the Peugeot-e-Boxer, is the Citroen e-Relay.
There are two rules of thought with electric vehicles. Put a battery into an existing petrol or diesel model, or build a bespoke electric platform. Citroen like Renault, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot & Fiat Professional have chosen the former. In the case of the Citroen & Peugeot though, diesel vans are shipped to a third party manufacturer based in Turkey, where they are converted to electric.
Model range
e-Relay is available exclusively in ‘Enterprise’ trim & is offered as a panel van, window van or chassis cab.
Panel van versions are available in L2 (5,413mm), L3 (5,998mm) & L4 (6,363mm) lengths, while the window van is offered only in L4 form & chassis cab in the L3 length. Maximum load volume is 15m3 of with maximum payload 1,150kg.
Battery & range
Customers have the choice of two batteries. A 120hp (90kW) electric motor available exclusively on the L2 panel van, or a 70kWh battery unit & 120hp (90kW) motor for all other body types. The 37kWh battery provides a WLTP certified range of up to 73 miles in the L2 panel van, whilst the 70kWh battery increases the range to 139 miles for L3 & L4 variants.
Charging
All e-Relay models come with a Type-2 charging cable as standard, supporting charging of up to 22kW. A full charge from 0-100% on a 7kW home charger will take six hours on the 37kWh version, or 12 hours on the 70kWh version. Both variants support up to 50kW rapid charging.
Spec & equipment
We were testing the e-Relay L3H2 70 kWh Enterprise panel van which retails from £57,035
Enterprise features a drivers airbag, rear parking sensors, halogen headlights, USB input, SatNav pack including 5″ colour touchscreen, DAB radio with steering mounted controls & Bluetooth. Specific to the e-Relay, a display screen is located in the rear view mirror, which indicates ti the driver with the battery charge level, battery voltage/amperage & battery range.
Load area & payload
The e-Relay features a full steel bulkhead, 10 tie-down hooks in the rear loadspace, a nearside sliding door & twin 180 degree rear, unglazed doors. The L3H2 measures 5998mm long, by 2050mm wide, by 2522mm high & comes with a wheelbase of 4035mm. Maximum load length is 3705mm, load height 1932mm & load width, 1870mm. Payload max’s out at 740kg & load volume is 13 cubic metres.
Cabin
First things first. As soon as you sit down, you can tell that the e-Relays been subjected to an aftermarket van conversion. The dashboard & instruments are exactly the same as the diesel Relay, but a lot of it doesn’t work. For example, all of the needles bar the one for the speedo in the dials have been removed. This means that the dashboard dials, which your eyes are drawn to, don’t function. Instead the range display is built into the rear-view mirror & it’s not that easy to read.
Furthermore, there’s no gear lever, rather three brushed aluminium dash mounted buttons, for Drive, Neutral & Reverse. These are easy to read & work with, which cannot be said for the heating system. None of the dashboard mounted knobs work as the heater’s been disconnected, so what you get is an aftermarket heater located low down to the drivers right. It works, but is fiddly to use, hard to reach & of course, only the driver can adjust it.
As far as everything else goes, it’s very much standard Relay. So the hand brake is located to the right of the drivers seat & there’s plenty of useful in cab storage, including a glove box, two open storage shelves, sizeable door pockets, two drinks holders lower down & one on the dash.
The fixtures & fittings feature some decent black plastics across the top of the dash & on the area around the touchscreen. The plastic used lower down is a touch cheaper & the seat fabric can best be described as hard wearing, rather than luxurious. The three front seats offer all users plenty of leg & headroom.
On the road
Unsurprisingly, the e-Ducato is easy to drive. But, the electric motor offers just 120bhp, which to be frank, ain’t a lot for a large van. Speed builds slowly, so don’t expect EV car thrills here. Approaching roundabouts the e-Relay slows & when you pull away from a standing start, you need to give yourself time. On a faster dual carriageway we got the e-Relay up to 50mph where it sat happily & quietly. At this speed, the range holds well too. Top speed is 75mph, higher then the eDucato which is limited to 62mph or 56mph for the larger versions, although staying at 60mph is the best way to extend your electric vans range. In common with other large electric vans there’s no cruise control, a chance missed in my opinion.
Regeneration, gear selector & handling
There’s a little bit of energy recovery on offer, which is only noticeable when you lift your foot off the accelerator. The van has a tendency to coast, nit necessarily when you want it to. The three button gear selector may look odd, but it works really well & is actually lot easier to use than the gear sector in the eDucato.
Forward visibility is good, but large A pillars do partially obscure your view when pulling out of junctions. All in all , the e-Ducato handles well, the battery weight doesn’t hinder the ride too much & the suspension copes well with the battery weight.
Competition
The identical Peugeot e-Boxer, Vauxhall Movano-e, Renault Master E Tech, Mercedes-Benz eSprinter, Maxus eDeliver 9 & the Fiat Profesional eDucato.
Pros
Very easy to drive, practical & well equipped. In 70kWh form, it offers a better range than the Renault & the Mercedes & is offered in more variants then the Mercedes as well. Electric motoring is much cheaper than diesel.
Cons
The aftermarket conversion comes with some cabin oddities. The 37kWh versions range is too small to be practical. The cabin lifted from the diesel Relay, is beginning to show it’s age.
Overall
Whilst the arrival of any electric van is to be applauded, the e-Relay left me scratching my head. Citroen & Peugeot told us that the decision to choose an aftermarket conversion, rather than develop their own electric van, was taken as the most cost effective solution. Plainly, sister brand Fiat Professional, developed their own electric eDucato, before they merged with the PSA Group to form Stellantis & the eDucato has evolved separately. It comes with more model choices, a better battery range & features a much improved cabin & infotainment experience, than the e-Relay.
It’s not all bad though. It compares favourably on price, on range & on charging with rivals, whilst offering more versions, a larger payload & a better ride than most too. In conclusion, we can’t help but feel that the e-Relays a bit of a stop gap, before a newer, brighter version emerges in the next few years. Watch the space.
An electric highway 3.5/5
