The little Mercedes Citan panel van was launched in 2021 and the posh EQT electric minivan in 2022, but it’s taken the company until now to fuse the two themes together and add the long-promised eCitan electric panel van to its lineup.
Underneath the Mercedes badges and trim the combustion Citan is a Renault Kangoo, and so it’s no surprise that the eCitan has plenty in common with the electric version of that van, the Kangoo E-Tech. Power comes from a single 90 kW (120 hp / 122 PS) electric motor that develops 181 lb-ft (245 Nm) of torque and drives the front wheels.
The sole battery option is a modest 45 kWh pack that’s located under the floor ahead of the rear axle and can be optioned with a heat pump. The pack can charge from 10-80 percent in 38 minutes using an 80 kW DC power supply that’s hooked up by lifting the Mercedes star on the nose to reveal the port. That DC rate isn’t especially impressive, but the AC charging rates are better: 11 kW as standard (giving a 4.5-hour fill time) or 22 kW via an optional onboard charger (2.5 hours).
Related: Mercedes EQT Electric Minivan Unveiled With 175 Miles Of Range Looking Nothing Like The Concept
Mercedes offers the eCitan as either a panel van or as an eCitan Tourer, a kind of no-frills minivan that slots below the more luxurious EQT, which is based on the same platform and running gear. But while the eCitan Tourer comes only with the 106.9-inch (2716 mm) wheelbase body, the panel van can also be ordered with a longer 122-inch (3,100 mm) wheelbase that’s being rolled as an option for combustion versions of the Citan van at the same time. The shorties can swallow 102.4 cu. ft (2.9 cu. m) of cargo, while the new stretched vans can accommodate 127.8 cu. ft (3.62 cu. m).
The other major decision for eCitan buyers to wrestle with is whether to go for Base or Pro grades. Pro adds features like extra color coding on the exterior trim, LED interior lighting, air conditioning, a stereo, electric windows, and a height-adjustable driver’s seat, which all seems like pretty basic kit to us, so you’d have to be a bit of a masochist to settle for the entry-level van. And even if you do upgrade to the Pro you’ll still have to pay extra for the 7-inch MBUX touchscreen infotainment system.
German prices for the short-wheelbase eCitan panel van start at €36,000, while the cheapest of the new long-wheelbase combustion-engined Citans will set you back €28,390. Needless to say, neither will be offered in North America.
