VW E-Crafter tested in “everyday use” by major customers

Volkswagen’s zero-emission van is being tested in parallel in everyday use by customers in Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden

The firm has handed over the first e-Crafter vehicles to an international group of major customers at its headquarters in Hannover.

The customers will be testing the new electric vans in everyday use until mid-2018.

Dr Eckhard Scholz, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: "We have developed the new e-Crafter with our customers and for our customers. We are therefore now integrating selected fleet operators into an initial customer phase so that their findings in daily operations with the vehicles can flow into the final design of the zero-emission van."

Major customers from Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden are testing the new e-Crafter vans in practical use. They are package delivery services, energy suppliers, trades businesses and individual retailers whose vehicles cover around 43 and 62 miles per day; sometimes with each day involving hundreds of starts and stops.

These parameters apply to around 85 per cent of the trips made in an urban setting according to analyses performed by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles on more than 210,000 driving profiles with over 1,500 customers. The e-Crafter has been tailored precisely to these typical city operations and distances with its 100 kW power output, range of around 99 miles.

The electric van is based on the new Crafter. Like Crafter versions with diesel engines, the new e-Crafter will also launch on the market with state-of-the-art driver assistance and convenience systems.

The e-Crafter will be available in September 2018. By then it will have the distinction of having already been extensively tested by customers in practice and made fully ready for the market.