Mercedes-Benz eVito Panel Van (2024 - ) review

The overall length of the vehicle in its 60kWh battery L2 format is 5.1m and its overall width is 2.2m, making it a relatively compact van able to access most roads with ease. Its overall single height option is 1.9m meaning access to multi storey car parks is no hassle. In the L2’s cargo area, you’re looking at 2.8 metres of available load length, with a max load width of just over 1.7m and a max load height of over 1.3m. Payload in this smaller L2 version tops out at 783kg, which accounts for 75kg as a nominal driver weight, but is less than competitors like the Ford E-Transit Custom that can offer 1000kg plus. Dual side sliding doors are an excellent addition for accessibility (provided as standard), and the rear doors are split 50/50 and open up to 180 degrees. As electric medium vans go, it competes but doesn’t excel in payload, but you can’t fault the practicality of dual side doors and 180-degree rear doors. I must add that the cargo area ply-lining these vans are provided with is exceptionally well done and very nicely finished - it makes a huge difference.and protects the metal work of the vehicle for resale.

The new eVito’s cabin is finally up to par with the Mercedes-Benz brand image - it offers high quality plastics blended with brushed chrome-effect metallics and classy fabrics. The addition of a new 10.25-inch colour touchscreen infotainment system running the newest version of the MBUX software nails this quality feel and makes the interior feel modern. At the top ‘Select’ trim level you get TEMPMATIC air conditioning, heated leather steering wheel, velour floor mats, a double passenger bench seat, heated comfort seat for the driver, smartphone integration through Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and a first aid kit. The foot-activated parking brake is gone and replaced with an electric parking brake, although the drive control stalk is still present where most other vans have wiper controls. The steering wheel controls are a mixed bag that are all where you’d expect them to be, but odd choices like the inclusion of touch sensitive finger-slide volume and cruise control adjusters (that are very hard and inaccurate to use) make it fiddly to execute simple functions. Everything you need is here, but odd control choices make it difficult to hop into and feel familiar - you need time to adjust, which isn’t a deal breaker but can be jarring. It can also feel a bit cramped at times with the seat being limited in its backwards movement by the bulkhead. To give you an idea what I’m talking about, I’m 6 foot tall and felt I was at the top end of the cabin’s height limit with my knees creeping up towards the steering wheel. If you’re taller than me, you will want a van with a bigger cabin. It’s not a dig, just a fact.

The 60kWh battery pack provides up to 159 miles of range (WLTP), and being an electric vehicle makes it London ULEZ exempt and green plate eligible. Charging at home or work will bring charging costs down, but in public you’ll be at the mercy of the provider’s tariff. Charging times work out at 6 hours and 30 minutes on an AC charger from 0-100%, or 35 minutes from 10-80% on a DC charger. The 159-mile range is workable, although not as high as other medium electrics - including most of the Stellantis electrics that offer more - but enough to be operated for a few days of short-range driving before charging is needed. The list price of £51,915 (before you apply the plug-in van grant, VAT and OTR costs) is high, so finance and lease deals are worth looking at as a way to mitigate the premium pricing thanks to the strong resale values usually available on used Mercs.

The eVito comes with four free services included as standard - that’s two-year A (minor) and two-year B (major) services - all of which are transferable with ownership. The vehicle is also covered by a three-year unlimited mileage warranty and is bolstered by an eight-year/100,000-mile battery guarantee. Very much the standard you see in the industry, although the servicing cover is a nice bonus. Any manufacturer willing to provide long-term cover and servicing is confident in their vehicle’s components and should be taken as a sign of expected reliability.

Driving this electric van in colder weather (6 degrees celsius) with a 250kg dummy load in the back allowed me to get a good idea of real-world performance and the inevitable range compromises you would experience in any electric panel van. The quoted maximum range for the eVito with the 60kWh battery pack is 159 miles, I saw an indicated 124 miles of range when turning it on after charging it up to full. I picked a 30-mile journey around the town I live in and its surrounding country roads and a 5-mile stretch on the dual carriageway. It was cold, so I opted to put the heater on the middle fan setting and drive the vehicle in its standard mode. After 30 miles of driving, my range counter was reading 83 miles equalling a 41-mile drop. Based on this, if you’re driving 30-40 miles a day you could operate this van in cold weather and similar driving/road conditions for two days (maybe three) before you’d want to charge it back up. In warmer weather, you could go for three days of solid driving. It’s all very much in line with what you’d expect, but does make me feel like the battery size will have to be improved with a larger battery pack to convince more to switch to it by overcoming range anxiety.

The new eVito is an absolute pleasure to drive. So smooth and accurate, it glides across the roads and doesn’t seem to break a sweat at any point. The 250kg dummy load didn’t even register in its handling. This is Mercedes-Benz electric drive quality in a panel van - I was very impressed and comfortable. The accelerator pedal is a bit too highly sprung for my liking, but it’s a minor quibble. I enjoyed driving the vehicles immensely, even if I did feel a bit cramped at points.

Safety equipment is heavily updated and now includes Blind Spot Assist, Intelligent Speed Assist, a parking package with the excellent 360 degree camera view, driver and co-driver thorax-pelvis side impact bags, Active Lane Keeping Assist and Attention Assist. As a running theme for this review, it’s the safest eVito yet and very on par with competing vehicles.

Additional equipment at the ‘Select’ trim level includes a chromed radiator grille, bumpers and detachable body parts in body colour, a spare wheel, the new MBUX multimedia system, an anti-theft protection package, the new electric parking brake, tyre pressure monitoring on the front and rear, and everything else you’ve seen throughout this review. Like the previous section, it’s the best-equipped eVito yet and very on par with competing vehicles in the marketplace.

If you saw promise in the original eVito and were waiting for improvements to take place, then your patience has paid off - this is the best version of the eVito yet that improves in every way on what went before. If I had to rate the eVito against itself it would get full marks, but it has to be rated against the other medium electric vans on the market. It has strong competitors, not least of which is the excellent Ford E-Transit Custom that offers more in the way of range, payload, equipment and ergonomics. The latest eVito is a significant upgrade that brings the van into the modern age and makes it competitive. It finally (and deservedly) feels more like a Merc van should, and on that basis if you like what you see then do check it out.