Guangzhou show: LDV electrifies with plug-in e-G10

CHINESE commercial vehicle brand LDV has revealed its electrified e-G10 seven-seater van during the Guangzhou motor show last week, with interest in bringing the emissions-free people mover to Australia in the future.

Powered by a 75kW/380Nm electric motor with a feature to raise power and torque levels to 150kW and 800Nm for short periods of time under acceleration, LDV says the e-G10 can accelerate from rest to 50km/h in 3.5 seconds and 0-100km/h in less than 14.0s on the way to a top speed of 150km/h.

For comparison, the 1.9-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder G10 produces 107kW of power and 350Nm of torque and the entry-level Mitsubishi-sourced 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol makes 105kW/200Nm.

According to LDV, the e-G10 represents “the latest fruit of a $3 billion investment by LDV’s parent company SAIC in electric vehicles,” and is part of SAIC’s ambition to “reach 600,000 cars and commercial vehicles by 2020”.

Other than new badging, the e-G10 looks identical to its petrol and diesel-powered siblings from the outside. Inside, the all-electric van has a battery charge and power consumption readout instead of a rev-counter.

Supported by 50,000 charging stations throughout China, the e-G10 is claimed to take 90 minutes for a full recharge at compatible high-capacity charging stations, with a driving range of around 200km.

Despite Australia’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure being nowhere near as extensive, LDV has indicated “it will be examining market interest in a zero emission people-mover that could be met by the LFC e-G10”.

LDV Automotive Australia currently has plans to trial the electric V80 van around the country, similarly to Renault Australia’s program with the Kangoo electric van range. With enough local interest, the trial could lead to local introduction of the e-G10.

No pricing was revealed for the e-G10, but in Australia the petrol G10 range kicks off with the seven-seat manual version for $25,990 before on-road costs and tops out at $31,490 for the automatic diesel.

For the first 10 months of 2016, LDV has sold 843 G10 vans and wagons around Australia, a significant increase over the 326 G10 vans sold in 2015.