Electric vehicles aren’t just for private users. They have quite a few applications in the commercial sector. Last year, Diamond Auto Group EV Corp. introduced themselves as the distributor of Dongfeng Electric commercial vehicles. And one of the vehicles in their lineup is the EC36, a small-ish eight-seat fully electric commuter van.

Exterior

The EC36 is a no-frills, earth-friendly people mover with a length of 4500mm, width of 1680mm, height of 2000mm and wheelbase of 3050mm. This puts it in a class smaller than the Hi-Ace commuter. It’s equipped with the necessities, and also pretty much the basics of what a people mover might need. 

Up front it has height adjustable halogen headlights with daytime running lights and fog lights. Dual-sliding doors allows passengers to get in or out from either side of the vehicle, it has a large rear hatch which opens up to a large cargo area behind the third row passengers, and it rolls on 14-inch steel wheels wrapped in tall 185/70s.

Interior

The EC36 is equipped with some luxuries though, like keyless entry, power windows, power steering and manual air conditioning. Fabric seats for all occupants are comfortable. Seating is 2+3+3. 

It has a touchscreen entertainment system which also doubles as the screen for the reversing camera. It has AM/FM and offers USB and Bluetooth (music and phone) connectivity. The rear passengers have air conditioning and the floor is an easy clean vinyl surface for both front and rear areas. It’s equipped with driver and front passenger airbags, and rear parking sensors.

Powertrain

This van is powered by a liquid cooled 334.88V CATL Lithium Iron Phosphate battery that has a capacity of 41.86 kWh, this in turn powers an electric, permanent magnet synchronous motor that puts out 82-Ps max power and 200-Nm of torque. This all gives the EC36 an NEDC range of 300-km and a top speed of 100-kph. It has two charging ports, a CCS2 DC fast charge port and a Type 2 AC charging port. 

Getting rolling

There’s a short learning curve to driving this EV, starting it easy, you need to step on the brake pedal all the way in and turn the key for the green ‘READY’ light in the instrument cluster to turn on. Once that's illuminated, you turn the drive select knob to D, release the parking brake and go about your drive. 

At first, I let it roll and then applied more pressure on the accelerator, it felt no different from an ICE vehicle off the line, but only when you’re gentle. The EC36 can accelerate like mad if you want it to, don’t forget an EV’s max torque is immediately available at all speeds. That makes driving this people-moving box lots of fun. It doesn’t feel like a box at all. It’s quite nimble.

When you select D, the van runs quiet and can coast quite a distance, but I opted to select E which I assume is some form of energy recovery mode. I discovered only a second or so after you lift off the accelerator, you’ll hear an audible whir followed by marked deceleration. 

EV performance and charging

One thing you’d have to remember is its range of 300-km is based on a very specific set of parameters to achieve. Perhaps it was done with even the air conditioning turned off. That said, in normal city driving, I averaged 20-km for every 10% battery level, and if I drove “gently”, I could squeeze out about 25-km/10%, all with the air conditioning on. Just like an ICE vehicle, you wouldn’t drive an EV to 0% anyway. 

Impressions

As a light commercial vehicle, this makes sense to be used as a company errand vehicle or employee shuttle. Its range is relative to your intended use, perhaps an ideal scenario would be errands in the near vicinity of your office where you constantly need to pick up and drop things off nearby, or within a regular circuit of a route. 

One of the caveats of owning an EV is that, the longer you drive it between charges, the longer it will take to charge to recoup the consumed energy. This applies to all EV’s. The EC36 takes about two hours for every 20%, using a 7-kWh charger like those found in SM Malls and Eastwood Mall.

Needing no fuel and somewhat less complicated in maintenance, this could save your company considerable amounts of money in the long run. The per-kilometer running cost of an EV is much cheaper than an internal combustion engine, especially with the constantly rising costs of both diesel and gasoline. Savings are always good, and at the end of the day, an EV would benefit your bottom line. 

If you’re in the market for a people mover for your business, the EC 36 might be a good consideration, while the initial cost might be a little high, at P1.7M, your long term savings might just be worth it, don’t forget, it’s also exempt from coding.