Mercedes might be best known to us for its luxury sedans and SUVs, but that’s only one side of the business. Benz is also big in the commercial vehicle sector, while some models, like the V-Class and its blue-collar Vito brother, straddle both markets. Now a decade old, they’ll soon be replaced using EV hardware being tested in this mule. Stashed under this test van’s current V-Class minivan body is Mercedes’ next-generation VAN.EA architecture, an advanced electric platform consisting of three distinct modules – front, center and rear – that will enable Mercedes engineers to adapt it to suit different sized vans and offer them with multiple driveline configurations.
All vans will get a standardized front
module with an electric motor driving the front wheels, but the rear module is
available with and without an electric motor, while different center modules
adjust the vehicle length and can accommodate different battery capacities.
This scalable architecture will underpin
every new Mercedes van starting in 2026, and although it will launch with
simple Level 2 cruise control, the automaker claims that by the end of the
decade passenger versions will feature Level 3, and commercial vans could even
offer Level 4, assitance tech. A close look at the door mirrors on this mule
reveals bulky sensor pods which must be part of the semi-autonomous system.
Commercial applications for VAN.EA include everything from regular panel vans
to ambulances, camper vans and flatbed trucks, while Mercedes has promised that
the passenger versions will get even more luxurious and provide at least 500 km of electric range.
China is a big market for luxury minivans,
a sector that is booming and has prompted Lexus to create the LM. But unlike
Lexus, which isn’t bringing the LM across the Pacific, Mercedes thinks that
there’s potential in North America, too, and has pledged to sell the electric
V-Class in the US in the second half of the decade.
