JOLLY FINE PROPOSITION? (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

The IVECO eJolly is an electric mid-sized van sold with all the service back-up of a truck. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 33

What if the medium-sized electric van you might be thinking what could be looked after by a franchise that only specialised in commercial vehicles? That's the appeal of this LCV, the IVECO eJolly.

Backgroundword count: 128

When it comes to vans, IVECO has always done things big. And heavy - when it comes to the ladder-frame chassis of the big Daily van that alone has sustained the Italian brand's LCV sales in the UK for the last few decades. Now though, IVECO wants you to know that it can offer a medium-sized van too - in the shape of this one, the eJolly. As the name suggests, it's all-electric. And if you think you've seen this mid-sized LCV before, that's because you have, it being a borrowed Stellantis design also used by Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot, Fiat and Toyota. None of those brands though, can offer this design with the kind of truck-based commercial business expertise that IVECO has. So should you consider an eJolly?

Driving Experienceword count: 264

The eJolly doesn't of course drive any differently from its Stellantis cousins. What is different is that you can have a smaller shorter-range 49kWh battery version if you're urban-based and don't need to go very long distances. That can go up to 138 miles. Most eJolly customers though, will want the volume 75kWh version, which manages up to 218 miles between charges. Both variants use the same 136PS electric motor. If you're wondering what driving a full-electric mid-sized van might be like, well, there's not too much to get your head around. You turn the key in the ignition, wait for the starting beep, then flick the gear toggle into Drive. There's a drive-mode selector that allows drivers to switch between 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Power' modes. The 'Normal' setting restricts you to 109PS and will feel a bit like driving a lower capacity diesel. 'Eco' mode restricts you further to 81.5PS and reduces the power consumption of the air conditioning and other accessories. If you want the full 136PS and 270Nm of torque from the electric motor, selecting 'Power' mode unlocks it. There are paddles behind the steering wheel to vary brake regen, with the fiercest setting slowing you very noticeably off-throttle. Top speed is just 84mph. The bonnet's set quite high, but the nose has a squared-off shape that should make this IVECO easy to place in tight urban situations. There's a kerb-to-kerb turning circle of 12.4-metres. And ride quality is a strong point, thanks to load adaptive variable damping shock absorbers, a system which varies the damping with the vehicle's ride height.

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