The LEVC VN5 is a

plug-in hybrid A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or simply plug-in hybrid is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be directly replenished via a charging cable plugged into an external electric power so ...

panel van A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...

produced since November 2020 by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

electric vehicle manufacturer

London EV Company London EV Company Limited (LEVC), formerly The London Taxi Corporation Limited, is a British Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer with its headquarters at Ansty Park near Coventry, England. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese ...

(LEVC), a subsidiary of Chinese automobile company

Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (ZGH), commonly known as Geely Holding ( ; ), is a Chinese multinational automotive conglomerate headquartered in Hangzhou, China. The company was founded by, and is privately owned by Chinese entrepre ...

. The car was largely engineered by CEVT, a

subsidiary in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden.

Overview

The

LEVC TX The LEVC TX (previously known as the TX5) is a purpose-built hackney carriage manufactured by the British commercial vehicle maker London EV Company (LEVC), a subsidiary of the Chinese carmaker Geely. It is the latest in a succession of purpose-b ...

Hackney carriage A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on t ...

was launched in 2017, as a

range-extender electric vehicle. Geely announced its intentions to build electric commercial vehicles based on the LEVC TX. Spy shots of a new LEVC TX-based van first surfaced on the internet in February 2018. Over a year later on June 19, 2019, an unnamed LEVC plug-in commercial van was revealed, which was later officially named the VN5 next year in March 2020, with "VN" standing for "van" and "5" referring to the 5 cubic metres (176.5 cu ft.) of cargo space. The VN5 went on sale in the United Kingdom in November 2020 with a starting price of £46,500 ($64,335), and although eligible for the United Kingdom's plug-in hybrid van government grant of up to £8,000 ($11,068), it has a much higher overall cost than other compact electric vans available in the United Kingdom such as the Maxus e Deliver 3, Renault Kangoo ZE, and

Nissan e-NV200 The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009. Overview The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by ...

. The VN5 has three available trim levels; Business, City, and Ultima. The LEVC VN5 went on sale for the rest of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in July 2021.

Specifications

Battery and engine

The LEVC VN5 has a 31 kWh

lithium ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy d ...

with a

Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure The Worldwide Harmonised Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) is a global driving cycle standard for determining the levels of pollutants, carbon dioxide, CO2 emission standards and fuel efficiency, fuel consumption of conventional internal combus ...

(WLTP)-certified electric range of , with 50 kW

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...

rapid charging for the Business and City trims, allowing the battery to be fully charged in 30 minutes, and 22 kW

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...

fast charging for the Ultima trim. The van also uses three-cylinder

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends ...

as a

range extender A range extender is a fuel-based auxiliary power unit (APU) that extends the range of a battery electric vehicle by driving an electric generator that charges the vehicle's battery. This arrangement is known as a series hybrid drivetrain. The ...

, giving it a total range of .

Cargo

The VN5 has a maximum

payload Payload is the object or the entity that is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of t ...

of for the Business trim, while the City and Ultima trims max out at and respectively. For cargo access, on the side is a single

sliding door A sliding door is a type of door which opens horizontally by sliding, usually parallel to (and sometimes within) a wall. Sliding doors can be mounted either on top of a track below or be suspended from a track above. Some types slide into a ...

and in the back are 60/40 split rear doors.

Features

The VN5 comes standard with a

collision avoidance system A collision avoidance system (CAS), also known as a pre-crash system, forward collision warning system (FCW), or collision mitigation system, is an advanced driver-assistance system designed to prevent or reduce the severity of a collision. In ...

cruise control Cruise control (also known as speed control, cruise command, autocruise, or tempomat) is a system that automatically controls the speed of an automobile. The system is a servomechanism that takes over the car's throttle to maintain a steady sp ...

, and a

touchscreen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...

, while a heated

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel, a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and hea ...

, front and rear

parking sensor Parking sensors are proximity sensors for road vehicles designed to alert the driver of obstacles while parking. These systems use either electromagnetic or ultrasonic sensors. Ultrasonic systems These systems feature Ultrasonic sensor, ultrason ...

s, curtain airbags, and a

lane departure warning system In road-transport terminology, a lane departure warning system (LDWS) is a mechanism designed to warn the driver when the vehicle begins to move out of its lane (unless a turn signal is on in that direction) on freeways and arterial roads. These ...

are available in the City and Ultima trim. Higher-quality seats and a

backup camera A backup camera (also called a reversing camera or rear-view camera) is a video camera specifically designed to be attached to the rear of a vehicle to aid in Reversing (vehicle maneuver), reversing and reduce the rear Blind spot (vehicle), blind ...

are exclusive to the top-level Ultima trim.

LEVC e-Camper

The LEVC e-Camper is a

camper van Camper or campers may refer to: * a person who engages in recreational camping * a recreational vehicle used for camping * Camper (surname), including a list of people with the name * Camper (company), a Spanish shoe company * Camping (video g ...

variant of the VN5. It was revealed in late June 2021 and will go on sale in Q4 2021 at a price of £62,250 ($86,458). It features an electric

kitchenette A kitchenette is a small cooking area, which usually has a refrigerator and a microwave oven, but may have other appliances - for example a sink. They are found in studio apartments, some motel and hotel rooms, college dormitories, office buildings ...

, a rising roof, and a central

folding table A folding table is a type of folding furniture, a table with legs that fold up against the table top. This is intended to make storage more convenient and to make the table more portable. Many folding tables are made of lightweight materials to fu ...

. The first row of the e-Camper has two seats that can swivel 180° and a second row

bench seat A bench seat is a full width continuous pad forming the front seat of automobiles. The second row of seating in most sedans is usually a bench. The third row of most SUVs and minivans, which may be forward-facing or rear-facing, is also a benc ...

which can slide back to form a dining/socializing room within the van.

References

{{reflist

External links

LEVC VN5 official website

LEVC e-Camper official website
Cars introduced in 2020 2020s cars VN5 Retro-style automobiles