Keep it cool
Vivaro GS looks flash but not so bold in cold
Hot vans are a thing. Not so much tuned engines and big performance, but vans that are dressed up to look fast. Like the Ford Transits built by an outfit called MS-RT, which builds cool machines with snazzy alloys and bodykits that cost the fat end of forty grand.
When we’ve written about these machines I wonder if there’s enough people around who want to spend serious money on such a thing, but then months later I’ll start to see them regularly on the road.
If people like to drive cool vans, then it seems likely that in the future there will be similarly customised electric vans.
Vauxhall is clearly of the same opinion and is getting off the blocks first with this Vivaro GS.
Already the best-selling electric van in the UK, the Vivaro Electric ( formerly known as Vivaro E, its name changed recently to emphasise its electricness) features a 75kwh battery feeding energy to a 136PS electric motor driving the front wheels.
Vauxhall claims a range of up to
189 miles, which prior experience indicates is somewhat optimistic, especially if motorway driving is involved.
Our grey Vivaro GS arrived in the thick of the recent cold spell.
There was no snow on the ground here but temperatures were well below zero. As is well known, cold temperatures seriously punish EVS’ range so it was clear our road test of the GS needed to be a conducted with an eagle (or worried) eye on the range display.
The Vivaro GS is also available with conventional diesel powertrains both as a panel van and as a crew cab, each with a 180PS 2.0-litre diesel engine.
The electric GS is available only as a panel van and that weighs in at £55,000 plus VAT compared to £41,000 for the diesel. So what goodies do you get over the standard Vivaro? How cool will you look?
Starting at the front we have a new lip spoiler that gives a sharper front profile; moving along the sides there are skirts with integrated front mudguards.
Obviously flash wheels are required and the GS is fitted with Y-spoke gloss black 18in alloys.
At the back there’s a two-piece rear spoiler and a bumper unique to the GS. Inside there’s hand-crafted eco-leather on seats emblazoned with a GS logo and finished off with red stitching. It’s all very tasteful.
The batteries live under the floor so none of the cargo bay is used up – it’s exactly the same size as a Vivaro diesel’s.
One point I want to raise: when are manufacturers of cars and vans going to address the matter of cable storage?
There was something sliding around in the back of our van and on investigation it turned out to be the charging cable in its bag. Wouldn’t it be possible to have the cable on a reel like a garden hose that could be pulled out for charging and then automatically reeled back in?
As we’ve said before, electric vans are perfect for short-distance deliveries in town.
However, in cold weather very careful route planning will be needed because our Vivaro Electric GS in sub-zero temperatures wouldn’t have managed 100 miles – and even 75 looked unlikely.