Costs & verdict
Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is
Choosing an electric van, whether you pay up front or lease, will cost significantly more than an equivalent diesel model. On the other hand, you'll enjoy significantly cheaper running costs provided you can charge the van cheaply and use it in a charge-based emission zone.
Talking of charging, the Toyota Proace Electric battery can be topped up from 0% to 80% in about 30 minutes for the 50kWh version and 45 minutes for the 75kWh if you have access to a 100kW DC rapid charger.
As we mentioned earlier, the closely related e-Dispatch, e-Expert and Vivaro-e give you choice of sizes and trims, so why choose the Japanese van? Well, the Toyota has an ace up its sleeve – its warranty.
The Proace Electric gets a five-year warranty rather than the three years offered by the other brands (all four have a 100,000-mile limit). Those additional two years of peace of mind could count for a lot – and Toyota came an impressive third in the 2020 What Car? Reliability Survey too.
