For her deliveries, Sandrine sometimes has the opportunity to drive an electric van. From afar, the Nissan e-NV200 is her preferred choice, even though she recently encountered the famous Rapidgate phenomenon for the first time. An experience she wanted to share with our readers.
Nissan Leaf Battery
It has been over two and a half years since the Nissan e-NV200 ceased production. This electric van, available in the Evalia passenger version, was manufactured at the factory opened by the Japanese automaker in Barcelona, Spain, starting in 2014. Equipped with a 24 kWh lithium-ion battery sourced from the Nissan Leaf, it had an estimated range of 170 km according to the NEDC mixed cycle.
Could this be the reason why this model, once used by Coca-Cola, DHL, FedEx, and Ikea, did not achieve great success in France? Despite strong advertising presence and competition only offering more compact models like the Renault Kangoo, Peugeot Partner, and Citroën Berlingo.
The Nissan e-NV200 had the advantage of being designed to easily accommodate two pallets of the European standard in its 4.2 m³ load volume. With dimensions of 4.56 x 1.76 m and a height of 1.86 m, it could carry up to 770 kg of payload and tow a trailer weighing a maximum of 460 kg from 2017 onwards (430 kg for the Evalia version).
Increased Range From 2018
The adoption of a larger 40 kWh battery for the Nissan Leaf also led to a better range for the e-NV200 from 2018 onwards: 280 km according to the NEDC mixed cycle, but only 200 km with the WLTP standard. The motor remained the same across the 49,000 units built in Spain from 2014 to 2021, developing a power of up to 80 kW (109 hp) and a maximum torque of 254 Nm.
This is the configuration of the van used by Sandrine: “I really enjoy driving this vehicle, it is very pleasant and has good acceleration for overtaking, to the point where I can’t imagine driving anything else“. This opinion aligns with an experiment conducted in 2014 by Automobile Propre with Nissan.
With over 31,000 km on the odometer, the vehicle owned by Sandrine was first registered in September 2020: “It has a mid-range Optima finish“. This explains the presence of additional equipment compared to the Visia version, such as automatic air conditioning, fog lights, a backup camera, a simple cruise control with steering wheel controls, and DC charging.
Additional Features
Sandrine takes full advantage of the extra equipment provided by the Optima finish while acknowledging the limitations compared to advancements in electric utility vehicles today: “I use the cruise control on both highways and country roads. It helps me drive more relaxed. There is no rear parking sensor, but a camera with images displayed on a somewhat small dashboard screen“.
On the N-Connecta high-end model, events occurring at the rear are displayed on a 7-inch touchscreen. This top version also includes navigation with embedded telematics, intelligent headlight activation, and automatic windshield wipers. However, charging can be a challenge today.
On public AC charging stations, the power will be limited to the 6.6 kW of the onboard charger. For DC fast charging, the Nissan e-NV200 is equipped with a CHAdeMO connector, which is less common in France: “I rarely get the chance to use it, but I admit it can be a bit complicated. For my unusually long trip of 330 km recently, I had to stop twice to recharge along the way. I was on a four-lane highway: it went well at that level“.
The Rapidgate Issue
What is Rapidgate? It is a phenomenon observed starting from the 40 kWh Nissan Leaf that limits the DC fast charging power when the vehicle is used relatively intensively, such as on a long journey involving continuous driving and rapid charges. This is due to a challenge in dissipating heat between the lithium-ion elements that were arranged closer together to increase range.
Both the Leaf and the e-NV200, which receives its battery, do not have liquid-cooled systems for battery cooling but rely on air circulation. This leads to longer charging times, slowing down progress on journeys of several hundred kilometers.
Sandrine had heard about this issue: “I had never experienced it before with the e-NV200, but I was afraid of facing it during my 330 km trip“. As a reader of Automobile Propre, she decided to pay attention to the battery temperature and charging power at the stations to share her experience of what she was about to encounter.
Through Example
Before departing, and to ensure she found CHAdeMO DC charging stations, Sandrine planned two charging stops starting from La Tranche-sur-Mer in Vendée, at Bain-de-Bretagne in Ille-et-Vilaine, and then at Saint-Jouan-de-l’Isle in Côtes-d’Armor: “As the range was depleting faster than expected, I had to advance my first stop in Nozay (44) by 35 km. Yet, I rarely exceeded 90 km/h on the dual carriageway, only to overtake trucks“.
In just 150 km, under an initial temperature of 24°C, our reader felt she entered the Rapidgate phenomenon: “I had to wait 24 minutes to recharge only 16.2 kWh. Worse still, 110 km later, in Saint-Jouan-de-l’Isle, it took 27 minutes to receive 11.42 kWh. By the end, the outside temperature had dropped to 19°C. The pack temperature had also decreased. It never reached the red zone during my journey, though“.
Despite this experience, Sandrine remained calm: “For me, it’s a big disappointment. Since I rarely use this vehicle for long trips, I think it’s not that serious after all. However, I wouldn’t want to experience this with a car that I regularly use for long journeys“.
Her Preferred Utility Vehicle
Sandrine believes that the Nissan e-NV200 has a moderate consumption for a utility vehicle: “The 16-17 kWh/100 km I record, whether empty or with 400 kilos of equipment, is very good for a utility vehicle with such a cargo volume and towing capacity. I wouldn’t exchange it for a Renault Kangoo, for example, because it consumes a lot“.
Therefore, the professional transporter regrets the discontinuation of production of the Japanese manufacturer’s van: “On the contrary, I would have liked it to be modernized with a better-cooled battery and a CCS connector. With the partition, it’s a relatively quiet utility vehicle. It is easy to handle for those unfamiliar with electric cars. You can tell it was designed for long journeys, especially in terms of comfort. Its dimensions—specifically the width—make it easy to use in urban areas as well“.
If our reader had to choose another model? “If I couldn’t use a Nissan e-NV200 anymore, then by default, it would be a Peugeot Partner or a Citroën Berlingo when what I need to transport fits inside”.
Automobile Propre and I truly thank Sandrine for sharing her experience with the Nissan e-NV200 on a journey highlighting the battery heating-induced charging slowdown with our readers.
Author’s Opinion
In 2015, I had the opportunity to test drive a Nissan e-NV200 Evalia with a 24 kWh battery for 3 days on a 1,000 km loop with my family. At that time, the consumption was higher than expected, requiring us to stop earlier for a charge, but at a location with only AC equipment. On the return journey, we also encountered issues with a faulty station we were targeting, forcing us to drive very conservatively. In conditions far from normal vehicle use, we barely made it within the NEDC range with a sense of anxiety.
On the road, it was better not to count on more than 100-120 km before needing to recharge.
All three passengers, aged 13 to 40, found the e-NV200 to be “comfortable, spacious, practical, and enjoyable”, to the extent that they overlooked the challenges of the trip. The only negative comments were regarding its van-like appearance and limited range. At a time when charging networks were not well developed, this was definitely a deterrent.
Even with the 40 kWh battery, the range was still too limited for the passenger version to become the sole vehicle for all uses. It would have required a battery pack of 55 to 65 kWh to be truly convincing.