The LEVC VN5 is a

plug-in hybrid A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engin ...

panel van produced since November 2020 by British electric vehicle manufacturer

London EV Company London EV Company Limited (LEVC, formerly The London Taxi Corporation Limited trading as The London Taxi Company) is a British automotive electric vehicle manufacturer with its headquarters at Ansty near Coventry, England, and a wholly-owne ...

(LEVC), a subsidiary of Chinese automobile company

Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entreprene ...

Overview

The LEVC TX

Hackney carriage A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common s ...

was launched in 2017, as a

range-extender electric vehicle. Geely announced its intentions to build electric commercial vehicles based on the LEVC TX. Spy shots of a new LEVC TX-based van first surfaced on the internet in February 2018. Over a year later on June 19, 2019, an unnamed LEVC plug-in commercial van was revealed, which was later officially named the VN5 next year in March 2020, with "VN" standing for "van" and "5" referring to the 5 cubic metres (176.5 cu ft.) of cargo space. The VN5 went on sale in the United Kingdom in November 2020 with a starting price of £46,500 ($64,335), and although eligible for the United Kingdom's plug-in hybrid van

government grant A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local ...

of up to £8,000 ($11,068), it has a much higher overall cost than other compact electric vans available in the United Kingdom such as the Maxus e Deliver 3, Renault Kangoo ZE, and

Nissan e-NV200 The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009. Overview The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by ...

. The VN5 has three available trim levels; Business, City, and Ultima. The LEVC VN5 went on sale for the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

in July 2021.

Specifications

Battery and engine

The LEVC VN5 has a 31kWh

lithium ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also see ...

with a

Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure The Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) is a global standard for determining the levels of pollutants, CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of traditional and hybrid cars, as well as the range of fully electric vehicles. ...

(WLTP)-certified electric range of , with 50 kW

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...

rapid charging A charging station, also known as a charge point or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles (including electric cars, electric trucks, electric b ...

for the Business and City trims, allowing the battery to be fully charged in 30 minutes, and 22 kW

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in which ...

fast charging for the Ultima trim. The van also uses three-cylinder

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as '' ...

as a

range extender A range extender is a fuel-based auxiliary power unit (APU) that extends the range of a battery electric vehicle by driving an electric generator that charges the vehicle's battery. This arrangement is known as a series hybrid drivetrain. The ...

, giving it a total range of .

Cargo

The VN5 has a maximum

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

of for the Business trim, while the City and Ultima trims max out at and respectively. For cargo access, on the side is a single sliding door and in the back are 60/40 split rear doors.

Features

The VN5 comes standard with a collision avoidance system, cruise control, and a

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...

, while a heated

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...

, front and rear

parking sensor Parking sensors are proximity sensors for road vehicles designed to alert the driver of obstacles while parking. These systems use either electromagnetic or ultrasonic sensors. Ultrasonic systems These systems feature ultrasonic proximity d ...

curtain airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. Th ...

s, and a lane departure warning system are available in the City and Ultima trim. Higher-quality seats and a

backup camera A backup camera (also called a reversing camera or rear-view camera) is a special type of video camera that is produced specifically for the purpose of being attached to the rear of a vehicle to aid in backing up and to alleviate the rear blind ...

are exclusive to the top-level Ultima trim.

LEVC e-Camper

The LEVC e-Camper is a camper van variant of the VN5. It was revealed in late June 2021 and will go on sale in Q4 2021 at a price of £62,250 ($86,458). It features an electric

kitchenette A kitchenette is a small cooking area, which usually has a refrigerator and a microwave, but may have other appliances. In some motel and hotel rooms, small apartments, college dormitories, or office buildings, a kitchenette consists of a small ...

, a rising roof, and a central folding table. The first row of the e-Camper has two seats that can swivel 180° and a second row bench seat which can slide back to form a dining/socializing room within the van.

References

{{reflist

External links

LEVC VN5 official website

LEVC e-Camper official website
Cars introduced in 2020 2020s cars VN5 Retro-style automobiles