Hybrid vs electric van: which is better?

Decided it is time to replace your old van but don’t want to commit yourself to several more years of driving a diesel? There aren’t as many options in the world of vans as there are in the passenger car arena, but the choice is worth getting right nonetheless.

Once you’ve asked ‘how much is my car worth’ then it’s time to whittle down the contenders. These are your options if you want something different.

Conventional hybrid

Pros:

No need for plugging in. A standard hybrid gets its electricity by capturing it from the brakes, or by recharging when the car is coasting

Cons:

Limited range. A conventional hybrid is not able to travel far on electric power alone – a few miles at most. This means it doesn’t qualify for any of the benefits that electrified vehicles get.

Only one. There is only one conventional hybrid van – the Toyota Corolla Commercial. This is a car derived van and doesn’t offer much in the way of loading space or payload compared to a standard panel van.

Plug-in hybrid

Pros: Bit of both. A plug-in hybrid, or PHEV, will give you the ability to charge your van up and run it on electric power alone or to use the combustion engine. They work best when you combine the strengths of each, though, with the engine doing the heavy lifting on the faster roads and the electric battery and motor kicking in around town.

Extended range. A PHEV doesn’t have the same range as a fully electric van, but it should manage up to around 30 miles on electric only, which will be enough to cover a lot of users’ daily needs.

No diesel at all. The engine in the Ford Transit Custom PHEV is a petrol, which means that users can soothe their conscience if ditching diesel is top priority.

Cons:

Only the one. There’s only the one plug-in hybrid van on sale in the UK so you are limited to a medium van, which might be a bit big for some and too small for others. The good news is that it is one of the best medium vans on sale – the Ford Transit Custom.

Range-extender hybrid

Pros:

More electric than not. A range extender has an engine and a large motor and battery combination, but it is the latter that powers the vehicle. The engine is purely there to replenish the battery if the charge drops off. It charges quickly and will give you a pure electric range of just over 60 miles. Add in the petrol engine and it should be able to do around 300 miles before everything is depleted.

Cons:

Expensive and only one. The LEVC VN5 is your only option if you want a range extender, and it isn’t a cheap choice. It is also smaller than the Ford Transit Custom PHEV.

Fully electric

Pros:

Growing in popularity. This is the most common option if you don’t want to go for a diesel van, and the number of electric commercial vehicles available is growing all the time. It was once a rarity but now you can get an EV van from pretty much all the major manufacturers.

Zero exhaust emissions. Once you are recharged there is nothing to come out of the exhaust of an electric vehicle, which is great for getting into local charging zones.

Cheaper to fuel. Even with the rising electricity prices it is cheaper to run an EV than it is to fuel and maintain a diesel one thanks to tax and congestion charge benefits and lower maintenance bills.

Cons:

Range isn’t perfect for all. Even with ranges improving you are still limited to something less than 200 miles and have to plan journeys in a way that you don’t have to with a van that can be refuelled at a filling station in minutes. Charging times can be long. Vans need big batteries and recharging them can take a long time, especially if you don’t have access to fast chargers. If you use fast chargers on the public network then these can be expensive