Citroen unveiled the Berlingo Electric in the UK at the 2013 CV Show, running now in the United Kingdom, as another electric light cargo van (LCV), building on the original Eletrique they launched in 1998 and cased production on in 2005. The Citroen Berlingo Electric is a commercial vehicle meant for package delivery with a range of about 106 miles.
Scott Michael, Citroën’s Head of Commercial Vehicles & Business Centre Programme, explains:
“The new Berlingo Electric has been launched to meet the transport requirements of a number of significant specialist sectors. Our previous electric LCV experience showed that these specific operations include local authority applications such as meals on wheels, parks departments and many other metropolitan council applications. In addition, we expect to see Berlingo Electric demand come from urban-based, private sector businesses, where its ease of driving and silent operation are complemented by availability of public charging points and more favourable parking legislation.”
The Berlingo Electric joins a group of other LCVs at the show as Citroen shows off its product lineup for commercial operations. Most are conventionally-powered diesel and gasoline vans, some sporting stop-start technology for fuel savings.
The Citroen Berlingo Electric is a small, battery electric van, however, that sports a 49 kW motor and 22.5 kWh of lithium-ion batteries. It has a range of up to 170 km on the New European Driving Cycle and a top speed of 110 km/h (69 mph).
The Berlingo Electric takes about 12 hours to recharge on a standard European wall outlet (220V) or receive an 80% recharge in about half an hour on a 380V three-phase terminal in quick-charge mode.
The Citroen Berlingo Electric was designed from the ground up as an electric van and suffers no cargo space loss compared to similar vans on the market, such as the Ford Transit Connect. Batteries are slung underneath the load deck, lowering the center of gravity for the LCV, and leaving the full 3.3 meter cubed cargo space open for use. That space can be extended to a full 3.7 cubic meters just as its diesel cousin allows, giving the Berlingo Electric a total payload capacity of 636 kg (1,400 pounds or about 1/2 a ton).
Pricing for the Berlingo Electric will start at £21,300 +VAT and the van will be available in the UK and other select European countries. Sales begin later this year.
