Battery power is growing in popularity at the moment, as companies better understand the potential for cost-savings batteries can bring. Ford and London have joined forces to cut emissions with plug-in hybrid vans, while VW will sell customers a clever new e-Crafter. Now, Nissan has teamed up with Harrods for emission-free deliveries around the London area.
The e-NV200 has been around for a while, but the one being used by Harrods will be modified in a few key areas. For one, the load space is completely refrigerated, opening the door for fresh food and grocery deliveries. A set of shelves has also been installed in the van, although the refit doesn't push the boundaries like some of Nissan's past concepts. Meanwhile, the exterior is finished in the traditional green and gold of Harrods. The design will be instantly recognizable to anyone who's paid the London department store a visit.
Of course, all this work would be for nothing if the e-NV200 could only handle one delivery per day. With range of 106 miles (171 km) from the 24-kWh battery it's not going to be capable of any long-haul work, but Nissan says it should be able to handle 50 short-range deliveries around London every week with just one charge. It should cost just 2p (roughly 5 cents) per mile to run, a significant cost saving when compared to diesel vans.
Along with the cost savings, moving to battery power will make a big difference on the environmental front. Driving in London is maddening, a blood-pressure-destroying game of stop/start crawling, which means lots of emissions being pumped into the air by cars not moving anywhere.
When it teamed up with Transport for London, Ford conducted a study and discovered commercial vehicles make around 280,000 trips across the English capital on a typical weekday, with vans making up around 75 percent of that traffic. Widespread adoption of electric vans could put a big dent in local emissions caused by commercial traffic, although the environmental benefits of battery power are still limited when they're charged by coal-fired power stations.
At the moment, there's only one electric e-NV200 in the fleet at Harrods. It was handed over at the Knightsbridge store earlier this week.
Check out the van in the video below.
Source: Nissan UK