Item: Maxus e Deliver 3
Rating: 3
Author: What Car? Team

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Introduction

Performance & drive

Interior

Passenger & boot space

Costs & verdict

Where the EV80 felt like a cobbled together conversion of a diesel model, the e Deliver 3 is purposeful and to the point while crucially still being affordable. Price-wise, it’s costs around one-third less than&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/abt-etransporter-61/van/review/n22641">Volkswagen ABT e-Transporter</a> or Mercedes-Benz eVito, and as such looks&nbsp;like&nbsp;good value. However, bear in mind that&nbsp;its residual value predictions aren't&nbsp;as attractive as those given&nbsp;for premium badged alternatives.

The range performance is also better than expected, so while the small battery's endurance might seem a bit limited, the larger battery has an excellent real-world range.&nbsp;The e Deliver 3 has a five-year 60,000 miles warranty, with a separate warranty that covers the batteries for eight years and 100,000 miles.

There’s no doubting that the e Deliver 3 is an ambitious attempt at an electric vehicle and one that contrasts starkly with&nbsp;SAIC’s only other previous large electric van on sale here, the LDV EV80. And, while&nbsp;there may be a few cosmetic details to iron out along with some technical bugs, but the basics of a decent and comfortable van are there.

How far will it go? That’s the first question any electric van driver will be asked, and you should be prepared to answer that question a lot when you step out of a&nbsp;Maxus e Deliver 3. The answer will, of course, depend upon which battery pack you have chosen: the larger 52.5kWh battery or a smaller 35kWh option.

The larger battery provides&nbsp;a maximum 151 mile claimed range on the WLTP combined test, but that range&nbsp;drops to 141 miles for the larger long-wheelbase van. The smaller of the two battery packs brings&nbsp;a range of 99 miles for the long wheelbase model and 95 miles for the short wheelbase van. The good news, however, is that all of those figures are perhaps a little understated, even without careful energy management, based on our real-world testing.

That’s not because it is underpowered either. There’s a single power option, a 90kW motor with 188lb ft of torque, that can propel the e Deliver 3 from 0-62mph in just 11 seconds – pretty speedy&nbsp;for a van.

The e Deliver 3 also supports rapid charging of up to 50kW.

On the road it doesn’t feel as refined as its competitors, but that’s not to say it isn’t enjoyable to drive in some ways. It grips well to the road and is relatively quiet – albeit not a match for the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/abt-etransporter-61/van/review/n22641">Volkwsagen ABT eTransporter</a>, which is a particularly&nbsp;calming and quiet machine.

The power delivery is noticeably peaky; it arrives&nbsp;with a burst and then quickly diminishes&nbsp;when&nbsp;you lift off the throttle. It is possible to balance this abruptness out by switching between&nbsp;the three energy recovery modes, the highest setting of which delivers particularly abrupt stopping power.&nbsp;

To provide a bit of reassurance when its power reserves are running out, once the e Deliver 3 drops to&nbsp;10% battery charge the it adopts a go-slow mode,&nbsp;limiting power consumption by reducing the amount of acceleration and top speed. This limits you from the 75mph top speed to the Eco button’s maximum 58mph limit.

Other vans like the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/vauxhall/vivaro-e/van/review/n22197">Vauxhall Vivaro-e</a> provide a more consistent driving experience,&nbsp;having&nbsp;been honed from&nbsp;experience gained with&nbsp;other products in the range. However, the e Deliver 3 is not too far behind, albeit still in need of a degree of finessing to match the class best.

The e Deliver 3 could also do with a Park mode, as well as the option of neutral and a conventional handbrake. There are&nbsp;also some simple niggles, like having the trip computer controlled by a button on the instrument cluster&nbsp;rather than from the steering wheel – an ergonomic glitch that&nbsp;should be remedied.

Maxus might be a name you’re familiar with, but there's a good chance you&nbsp;might not be:&nbsp;if you’re in the latter camp, it is a moniker that adorned a variety of van models from LDV over the years but which has now been selected by new Chinese owners SAIC as the lead name for the rebranded company.

SAIC’s investment in Maxus has been considerable since it took over the LDV name, launching the LDV V80 and LDV EV80 while also promising a pipeline of new models that are set to come in future years.

The Maxus e Deliver 3 is one such new van, a re-titled version of the LDV EV30 city van that was first shown at the 2019 Commercial Vehicle Show. It’s an all-electric city van that stands out immediately for being a cross between a small van and a medium one.

The Maxus e Deliver 3 is available in two wheelbase lengths and comes in two body sizes, but there is just one height option. The thing that separates it out from its rivals is that it has quite ungainly proportions – not quite in the realms of the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/nissan/e-nv200/van/review/n20139">Nissan eNV200</a>, but it is not as long and slightly higher than most medium-sized vans.

There are two battery sizes available so buyers have the choice of extending the range, which peaks at up to 151 miles.

As electric vehicles have become increasingly part of the mainstream, so their styling has been toned down over the years, so it is unusual to see an electric vehicle, especially a van, styled in a futuristic manner like the Deliver 3. Nevertheless, its plastic moulded wings and bonnet are a blessing for accident-prone van drivers.

The Maxus e Deliver 3 competes with small vans such as the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/renault/kangoo/van/review/n20116">Renault Kangoo ZE</a>, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/peugeot/partner-electric/van/review/n20151">Peugeot e-Partner</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/citroen/berlingo-cv/van/review/n20217">Citroen e-Berlingo</a>, as well as&nbsp;mid-sized models that include the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/abt-etransporter-61/van/review/n22641">Volkswagen ABT eTransporter</a>, Mercedes-Benz eVito and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/vauxhall/vivaro-e/van/review/n22197">Vauxhall Vivaro-e</a>.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

First impressions of the Maxus e Deliver 3's interior&nbsp;are quite encouraging. The plastic surfaces are broken up by the use of several&nbsp;tones and textures. The central, horizontal portion of the dash has plenty of sculpted angles to make it look modern and contoured to the driver and passenger, while the surround of the screen has a smart&nbsp;piano black finish. It looks worlds apart from the interior of any van that has previously worn the Maxus badge. However, it's a shame that many of the plastics you touch and look at the most – such as&nbsp;the indicator stalks and the instrument cluster – feel and look low quality. It’s a great shame given those strong initial impressions.

The e Deliver 3 does, however, have a decent level of equipment as standard, with electric mirrors, heated seats, air conditioning and a multi-function steering wheel to control the 7in touchscreen and cruise control. There are&nbsp;also parking sensors, a reversing camera and automatic headlights – features that don’t appear as standard on many regular vans or electric vehicles.

It’s a generous standard package that is slightly let down by the sometimes glitchy infotainment system. There’s a detailed trip computer showing kWh battery data, consumption and range, but the radio struggles to keep a signal and we found ourselves having to reset it several times after switching menus. Issues like this will likely be solved with a software update in time, so it is worth testing these functions yourself and enquiring after updates with the dealer.

Storage isn’t particularly plentiful; the open glovebox, fairly narrow door pockets and&nbsp;trays between the seats are the main places you can put odds and ends.

MAXUS

E DELIVER 3

The Maxus’ e Deliver 3 has been launched as an&nbsp;affordable EV, and while that ambition has&nbsp;required its makers to cut some corners, it is largely a well resolved and appealing small to medium sized van.

The Maxus e Deliver 3 is available in two different wheelbase options: short at 2910mm and long at 3285mm, for&nbsp;bodies that measure up at 4555mm and 5145mm, respectively. The rear loadspace length is up to 2180mm for the smaller van and 2770mm for the larger version. All versions&nbsp;have a maximum width of 1665mm, with 1220mm between the wheel arches. The loadspace height is 1230mm.

Loadspace volume is 6.3m3 for the long van and 4.8m3 for the short model. For the short wheelbase van with the smaller batteries, maximum payload is 865kg, rising to&nbsp;905kg with the bigger battery pack. That may sound backwards, but it isn't; Maxus has rather sensibly increased the gross vehicle weight of the higher capacity battery vans from 2310kg to 2460kg.

The same has been done with the long wheelbase model, but with its additional&nbsp;weight,&nbsp;the bigger, heavier batteries&nbsp;bring a slightly lower maximum payload ( 990kg) than&nbsp;the small battery pack (1020kg). The bigger battery increases the GVW from 2550kg to 2630kg.

There’s a single sliding side door as well as twin rear doors,&nbsp;the cargo area floor is non-slip and there are six lashing point rings for securing items.

If you look at where electric vehicles have come from in the past five years to where they are now, it’s fair to say that – despite being a brand-new van - the e Deliver 3 is somewhere in the middle. Maxus’s bold ambitions to launch an affordable EV have required it to cut some corners. If you need an electric van but are on a budget it’s certainly appealing, but you can’t help but wonder what more investment and a slightly higher price tag might yield.

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Buying advice for the Maxus e Deliver 3 covering running costs, MPG, Fuel Economy, Reliability and Safety, from the expert What Car? review team.

Where the EV80 felt like a cobbled together conversion of a diesel model, the e Deliver 3 is purposeful and to the point while crucially still being affordable. Price-wise, it’s costs around one-third less than the Volkswagen ABT e-Transporter or Mercedes-Benz eVito, and as such looks like good value. However, bear in mind that its residual value predictions aren't as attractive as those given for premium badged alternatives.,The range performance is also better than expected, so while the small battery's endurance might seem a bit limited, the larger battery has an excellent real-world range. The e Deliver 3 has a five-year 60,000 miles warranty, with a separate warranty that covers the batteries for eight years and 100,000 miles.,There’s no doubting that the e Deliver 3 is an ambitious attempt at an electric vehicle and one that contrasts starkly with SAIC’s only other previous large electric van on sale here, the LDV EV80. And, while there may be a few cosmetic details to iron out along with some technical bugs, but the basics of a decent and comfortable van are there.,

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