Europcar to offer Mercedes eVito trials to fleets

Europcar has partnered with Mercedes-Benz Vans to give businesses that use commercial vehicles the chance to put electric motoring to the test in real world conditions.

A number of new Mercedes-Benz eVito panel vans will be trialled by Europcar customers over the next six months to help them understand the types of journeys and user applications that are best suited to electric motoring.

GeoTab telematics units including purpose-built EV reporting and Sure-Cam in-car dash cam technology are also being integrated into the vehicles to ensure Europcar, Mercedes-Benz and the eVito users can gain the best possible insight from the trials.

“Many businesses are eager to adopt the most sustainable fleet solutions but still need to understand how these will work for their operational models”, explained Gary Smith, managing director of Europcar Mobility Group UK. 

“By offering this simple ‘test drive’ facility, in partnership with Mercedes-Benz, we are enabling businesses to try out an electric van on a day to day basis to see if it will work for them.

“In the longer term, we believe renting electric will prove a massive benefit to businesses that are working in low emissions zones on a short term basis, or simply want to temporarily integrate an electric van into their existing fleet for ‘on demand’ environmentally friendly motoring. The learnings from the trials will, therefore, help us shape our electric van rental solutions for the future, as well as provide Mercedes-Benz with valuable customer feedback.”

The eVito long wheelbase panel van has a range of approximately 93 miles with a battery capacity of 41 kWh.

It has a cargo volume of 6.0 cubic metres and there are no restrictions due to the electric drive, with a payload capacity of up to 923Kg.

Steve Bridge, managing director of Mercedes-Benz Vans UK added: “Partnering with Europcar in this way enables customers to effectively trial the technology and find out what it is like to run an electric vehicle within their existing operation. We know that interest and demand is high, but to experience the eVito within their own environment and charging infrastructure will provide these businesses with invaluable feedback, and enable Europcar and ourselves to gain further insight into the demands and needs of electric vehicle use.”