BYD tries the van market with this compact electric ETP3. Jonathan Crouch reports

Ten Second Review

BYD's ETP3 is a small electric van with big ideas. The first in a huge future wave of Chinese EV commercial vehicles. How does it stack up?

Background

Most small electric vans are merely EV versions of designs originally intended for combustion power. What if you could have a small van purpose-designed as an EV? That's what Chinese maker BYD brings us here with this ETP3. In the UK, we're now familiar with BYD as a maker of (mainly full-electric) cars, but in other markets, the brand does good business with vans and commercial vehicles too. The ETP3 is the first of these to make here, a compact electric Berlingo or Kangoo-sized model that's imported to the UK in very small numbers but might be worth a look.

Driving Experience

The ETP3 is only available as an EV and comes with single-speed auto transmission and a single 100kW (134hp) magnet synchronous electric motor. That's energised by a 44.9kWh battery offering a range of up to 145 miles, rising to 171 miles for exclusively city driving. Town work is what this BYD is primarily designed for, as evidenced by the modest 62mph top speed. You should certainly find it maneuverable through city streets and narrow service roads, plus its car-like 1,875mm roof height should mean you'll be able to get into most multi-storey car parks too. When parking though, you'll need to remember to allow extra rear space for the hatchback rear door. There's 180Nm of torque, which is ample for small EV of this size and more than enough for relatively eager urban progress. The elevated seating position and great all-round visibility help in city traffic and the rounded window edges curve down towards the A-pillars, which further helps your all-round vision. Plus the side mirrors are large and tall, helping the driver keep plenty of the vehicle in sight. There's also a regenerative braking system. When under braking or lifting the accelerator (with battery power lower than 90%), the kinetic energy is converted into electricity to recharge the battery. It can effectively reduce brake pad abrasion, improve driving range and save energy.

Design and Build

You don't buy a small van on the basis of its visual aesthetics but the ETP3 is quite a smart-looking thing. Remove the badge work and you could be looking at an LCV from just about any of the major brands, with smeared-back headlights and black front corner cut-outs. The charging port is centrally located behind a silver panel on the nose - which is better than a placement on the side of the vehicle, where a sliding door could be opened on to the charging lead whilst it's connected up. There's only one single compact body size, which is 4,460mm long, 1,720mm wide and 1,875mm high. More important of course is what you can't see. Through this van's '33111' high integrated system design, the BYD e-platform is able to reduce the weight and optimise the layout of parts to increase the reliability, safety and energy efficiency. Inside, you sit quite commandingly and there's a better quality feel than you get from some rival budget brands. And a modern ambience - so a push-button starter, an electronic handbrake and digital climate controls. Everything is logically laid out on the silver-trimmed centre console and the auto gearstick falls nicely to hand. Through the 4-spoke wheel, you view analogue speed and power usage dials and a partial digital drivers display, which shows you information such as your charge level, remaining range, odometer reading, current gear, and time.

Market and Model

You'll need around £30,000 for this ETP3 - that's before the available £2,500 government Plug-in Grant is deducted from the asking price. This is reasonably competitive by the standards of the compact EV van class, though is still a couple of thousand more than you'd need for, say a Citroen e-Berlingo. BYD hopes that some of that difference will be compensated for by strong equipment levels. As part of the price, you get two sliding doors, a durable aluminium floor for the cargo area, faux leather upholstery, keyless entry, 16-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights, a TFT driver information display, a reversing camera and an electronic parking brake. There's no big central infotainment screen - just a radio.

Practicalities and Costs

This ETP3 comes with two sliding side doors but you have to have a hatch-style rear door - which can be awkward to raise in tight parking situations. Cargo capacity is rated at 3.5m3;for comparison, you'd be looking a 3.3m3 for a medium-length Citroen e-Berlingo, Peugeot E-Partner or Fiat e-Doblo. The payload figure - 780kg - is quite competitive too, though obviously is down on the one-tonne stat you'd get from a similarly-sized combustion-powered small van. The Gross Vehicle Weight is 2,420kg. With 2,25mm of wheelbase length between the wheels, there's a reasonable amount of cargo length across a loading bay covered with an anti-slip and wear-resistant aluminium alloy floor with draw buckles for securing cargo. Above the rear wheel hub, there's a small but useful compartment for stowing tools and smaller items. The ETP3 doesn't come with a bulkhead separating the cargo area from the cabin, which isn't great for safety but does mean that longer items can easily be poled into the passenger side of the cab. As for charging, well the 50kW DC public charger speed isn't very fast, but it still enables a 20%-100% charge of the 44.9kWh battery to be done in half an hour. This BYD uses a Battery Thermal Management System - a liquid thermal management system that guarantees that the battery temperature stays at the optimum operational temperature. This increases the safety and reliability of the battery system and enables the vehicle to operate in extreme weather conditions.

Summary

You certainly won't have previously considered the ETP3 if you're after a small electric van, but on the basis of what we've discovered here, it's worth looking at if the offered price is right. Driving range and carriage capacity are both competitive and the cabin design isn't especially reminiscent of a budget brand in the way you might fear. In other words, it's a cut above a Maxus eDeliver3. Beating established European rivals like Citroen's e-Berlingo and Renault's Kangoo Electric be tougher for this BYD, but this ETP3 is a good first stab at that market. And is worth adding to your shopping list - if you can find one to buy.