Renault Australia Says it will expand the range of electric vans by bringing updates Master e-Tech EV here, with the expected arrival in 2024.
The forthcoming arrival of the French EV will be music to the ears of fleet companies and owner-operators who have been crying out for a zero-emission freight option in Australia – to no avail.
The large electric load-logger will join the smaller Kangu e-Tech, which is set to hit the Australian coast in early 2023.
The modified Master E-Tech has got a new 52kWh battery that allows a driving range of 200km – it’s not huge, but the usual “last mile” freight charges and the like are enough.
In contrast, the previous Master E-Tech had a smaller 33kWh battery and a 120km range.
Its battery takes five hours to reach 80 percent charge when plugged into a 7.4kW wallbox and 10 hours to a 3.7kW domestic socket. A 22kW DC charge can recover 50km range in 45 minutes.
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The updated Master E-Tech EV retains the familiar 57kW and 225Nm electric motors, which look quite weedy, but Renault insists that it is “ideal for driving with great flexibility on both urban and Perry-Urban roads”.
What’s unusual is that the much smaller and lighter Kangoo E-Tech has 90kW of power …
Master e-Tech enhances conventional hydraulic braking with an ‘adaptive regenerative brake system’ that maximizes the amount of energy recovered regardless of the selected braking “rule” (setting).
Renault Master is also expanding the size and capabilities of the e-tech body, making it available in 15 versions instead of the original six. The full-electric version has the same cargo space as the diesel counterpart.
Over the next few years the space for EV vans in Australia will grow at a relative rate of knots, including rival Ford e-Transit (2022) and e-Transit Custom (2024) and Mercedes-Benz Evito and EQV. (2022) and eSprinter (2024).
Volkswagen Australia says there is already a high demand for its electric vans – with retro-cool IDs. Buzz man-mover and id. Buzz cargo work spinoff – but don’t expect to see them until the end of 2024.
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