A Revolutionary Fully Electric Work Van

Your new electric work van must look cool and this one does. It looks like a prop made for a futuristic Sci Fi movie. The 16 foot, manufactured by international, “eStar,” 2 ton payload, class three, medium duty van may just fit the bill.

With a top speed of 50 miles an hour, the lithium ion batteries give it a range of 100 miles before it requires an 8 hour recharge. If your company’s van requirements fall within this range this may be the van you were looking for.

Some well known companies have purchased this vehicle. FedEx and UPS have done their research and evaluations and found that several of their delivery routes can be accommodated by the eStar.

With a price tag of just under $150,000, companies with smaller budgets will walk away from the negotiation table. There are less expensive electric vans out there, but none as outwardly attractive.

So let’s find out if this investment actually increases your profit margins over the long term. The most fuel efficient work van of a similar size and capacity is the Sprinter. With a Mercedes diesel engine, it gets over 20 miles to the gallon.

This evaluation assumes that maintenance costs are equal.

To make things easy, the numbers will remain simple. Diesel fuel costs $4.00 per gallon. 1 kWh costs 10¢. Some electricity providers around the world charge about one third this cost when using electricity during off hours, for instance 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM.

The eStar can travel 1.25 miles per 1 kWh. Converting this to the same distance a Sprinter can travel on 1 gallon of diesel would require 16 kWh’s for an eStar. This translates to $1.60 for the eStar vs. $4.00 for the Sprinter to travel a distance of 20 miles.

Assuming the average distance traveled in your work van is 80 miles a day, five days a week and 50 weeks a year, annual distance traveled would be 20,000 miles. Fuel expenditure for the Sprinter would be $4000 annually. Recharging costs for the eStar is $1600 annually. This is a savings of $2400.

A new Sprinter with similar attributes to the eStar would cost $40,000 purchase price. This is a difference of $110,000 less then the eStar. Just to break even, the eStar would have to be in service for almost 46 years.

10 years or 200,000 miles is the approximate useful life of a work of van. A business owner’s bottom line is very important, it supersedes the desire to lessen his/her carbon footprint. Fuel savings in one decade of use ($24,000), hardly puts a dent in the additional $110,000 expenditure to purchase this green vehicle.

Government rebates for the purchase of green vehicles may reduce the sting a little. Until the price comes down dramatically, this vehicle is not a good small business decision.

Taking into consideration the total cost of the eStar, it is surprising the eStar actually has a customer base. It is a good looking van, dramatically reduces the carbon footprint and would be an excellent platform for an inner city mobile business.

Large companies with large fleets have the capacity to negotiate the price. Their outwardly appearance and customer opinion may play an important role in the decision to acquire the eStar.

Today this vehicle is not financially feasible for the small business owner. Technological advances will most likely reduce the price and increase its range, speed and efficiency in the future.

Hopefully, in a decade or so, the eStar will be as common as the Sprinter.