IVECO launches electric van, will it arrive in the US under the name Nikola?

Best known in the United States as the OEM behind Nikola, Italian truck brand IVECO entered the 2.5- to 3.5-ton medium-duty commercial van segment at this week’s IAA Transportation conference with this: the eMoovy electric chassis cab.

Developed jointly with Hyundai and based on a modified platform of the Korean brand’s Staria ST1 van, the IVECO eMoovy enters a booming commercial electric space with a 215 hp electric motor and a 63 kWh or 76 kWh battery offering up to 199 miles of range.

The IVECO version leverages Hyundai’s excellent 800V architecture. This means the eMoovy supports 350kW ultra-fast charging and V2x functionality, allowing it to be used to power a construction site, power workers, or even power a home (presumably).

It’s been a long time coming

We’ve known that a commercially available IVECO version of the Hyundai van (which isn’t sold as an electric vehicle, to my knowledge) has been in the works for some time. In fact, Peter Johnson wrote about the 2022 deal back in February.

In this article, Peter writes that while Hyundai would develop and build the chassis, IVECO would customize the electric vans to fit broader commercial markets and distribute the vehicles throughout its network. If this sounds familiar, that’s because (on the surface, at least) the deal seems pretty similar to the one IVECO struck with Nikola… which begs the question: Will Nikola get an eMoovy variant for sale in the US?

The new electric van will be aimed squarely at Ford E-Transit customers in Europe, so there’s no reason to believe it won’t be an interesting alternative for commercial fleets on this side of the Atlantic as well – especially with the “big truck” street cred that could come with the Nikola association.

Electrek’s point of view

The commercial electric vehicle market is driven by dollars and cents. Do electric vehicles have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than their gasoline or diesel counterparts? They will continue to sell and their market share will continue to grow. The only question Hyundai and IVECO need to answer is whether North American truck buyers are more likely to buy a Hyundai-branded van or a Nikola model.

We asked Kia’s James Bell a similar question on Fast charging a few weeks ago. Listen her Answer these questions below, then share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Kia’s James Bell Talks Fast Charging Electrek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2GmAt3TgDs

SOURCE | IMAGES: IVECO, CarScoops.