Meet the duraCar Innovan, an EV van from the Netherlands
If you thought that the Dutch only were known in the auto industry because of their cool DAF cars from the '60s, (which, by the way, had a very clever CVT system), they're out to prove you wrong. The Netherlands has a manufacturer that has a very interesting EV that looks to be ready in April. It's called the duraCar Innovan, and it's made from light recyclable fiber.
The van is aimed at companies who need to make local deliveries, but performance is quite decent and far superior to any of the available quadricycles in Europe (or NEVs in the US). Although the Innovan runs on electricity, it's estimated that its fuel-equivalent consumption is 1 liter per 50 km (about 118 mpg), with CO2 emissions under 30 g/km. Driving range is claimed to be 150 km (90 miles) thanks to the vehicle's low weight, and driving cost is very low: the electricity bill will only cost you from 150 to 200 EUR every 10,000 km (that's 220 to 295 dollars for 6,200 miles, or 3.5-4.7 cents a mile).
There's a couple of videos from the presentation after the jump. They're in Dutch, but the van looks great to me. Don't miss the electrically-operated back doors.
[And kudos to Lascelles for the find]
Part 1
Part 2
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rgseidl 11:12AM (1/28/2008)
For those of you that don't speak Dutch, the videos say this vehicle may or may not be built in the NedCar facility in Born (Limburg province) that previously produced the smart forfour and roadster. Around 25 million Euros have been invested in the development at this point (no info on crash testing). The first 30 units have been pre-sold but tellingly, no specific delivery date was mentioned. The company's website does claim the vehicle will be "on the road" by April 2008.
Pricing will be around EUR 20.000 - high for a panel van but low operating costs should still make the TCO attractive for the target market of commercial users with high annual mileage.
Range is given as 150km (94 miles), though presumably this is at the surban/suburban speeds this local delivery van was designed for. At motorway speeds, range might be substantially reduced. No mention was made of the battery's SOC at the end of that range, i.e. whether the number is sustainable over the life expectancy of the vehicle. Note that motor torque, i.e. forward acceleration, is electronically limited (level not mentioned).
The prototype shown does not yet feature a full set of batteries (chemistry and supplier not mentioned). The production model will have a fairly high but level cargo bed covering the battery packs.
See also this autoblog.nl snippet. The company's plans have clearly changed since April 2007.
Reply
rgseidl 11:14AM (1/28/2008)
Sorry, ABG's comment parser apparently doesn't support embedded HTML correctly, so here is that link to the translation of the autoblog.nl article:
http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autoblog.nl%2Farchive%2F2007%2F04%2F27%2Finnovan-nieuwe-nederlandse-autofabriek&langpair=nl%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8
Reply
Mirko 1:27PM (1/28/2008)
rgseidl, NedCar made the Smart forfour, but the Roadster was only made in Hambach, France. NedCar still makes the Mitsubishi Colt, which uses the same platform and engines as the Forfour.
Before the Colt/Forfour, NedCar madte the Mitsubishi Carisma/last-gen Volvo S40/v50, also platform twins.
NedCas is actually the former DAF car factory.
Reply
Mirko 1:30PM (1/28/2008)
I correct myself: V40, not V50. Only the newer-gen Volvo wagon is called V50, shares a platform with the Ford Focus.
Reply
Chris A. 1:39PM (1/28/2008)
...and don't forget Vandenbrink's Carver, although some might argue it's not a car. Then there is Spyker with their C8, who had their brief stint in Formula 1.
Quote:
If you thought that the Dutch only were known in the auto industry because of their cool DAF cars from the '60s
Reply
Throwback 1:49PM (1/28/2008)
How is the "fuel equivalent consumption" calculated? I have seen this mentioned in many articles with some rather high mpg claims. Is everyone using the same calculations or is there room for umm fudging, or as us New Yorkers say lying? We tend to be a little more up front.
Reply
Phil L. 6:35PM (1/28/2008)
Throwback -
Yeah, equivalent mileage calculations for an EV can get dicey. How do you presume the electricity is generated? How do you account for losses inherent in charging? Perhaps something that allows all vehicle costs to be expressed in "money/distance traveled" units would help, though that can hide underlying environmental costs...
Reply
Randolph 4:04AM (1/31/2008)
The vehicle looks very mature and I agree it is a great urban delivery vehicle.
Does anyone have information about the electric system? What technology is used? Who developped it?
Reply
Jan B. 11:33AM (2/03/2008)
The Innovan's AC drive system is delivered by a Dutch company, Evisol (found on the old Duracar website). I will try to find more info on inverter, motor and battery system.
Reply