42 caravanworld.com.au
Apartfromthefridge,theonlyappliances
that use 12V are the water pump and the LED
lighting. The only other item on board that
uses significant energy is the water heater
and that too is 240V-powered.
I have to say I was a bit surprised by the
lack of an LG gas system. I get the idea of an
all-electric vehicle but it is something of a
limiter of any sort if you plan to do any sort
of freedom camping.ENERGY TO BURN
Behind the steering wheel, the LDV looks
for the most part like a conventional vehicle.
LDV has a centre-mounted dashboard for
all its vehicles, so the gauges are in the
middle. In this case, we get a speedo, slightly
irritatingly with km/h and miles/h figures,
the latter being on the outside and in largerfigures, a battery percentage gauge, kW used
gauge and a distance remaining gauge. Note
that because driving conditions can vary, the
battery percentage gauge is going to be more
reliable than the distance remaining.
If you are used to the Mercedes/Fiat Iveco
sophistication that comes out of Europe,
then the LDV will seem slightly agricultural,
but the basics are all there and commanding
it is really just like driving a normal light
commercial vehicle.
Starting the vehicle is a matter of turning
the ignition key, putting the auto in Drive
and then simply driving off. The handbrake
is a switch on the dashboard. Acceleration
isn’t neck snapping, indeed not good for
battery economy but the eVolve does keep
up with the general traffic flow without too
much trouble.
Going downhill was slightly odd. The
vehicle has some sort of regenerating
system, judging by the kW gauge, but on
long runs downhill it was like I touched the
brake lightly every now and again. Still, it
was particularly interesting to watch thekW gauge do its thing!
The oddest part is the total lack of engine
noise, making general conversation at a
normal tone quite easy. Unfortunately, it also
means that all the squeaks and rattles that a
motorhome can produce are quite obvious.
Fortunately, the eVolve I had didn’t produce
too many of those and the most annoying
of all, the grill rattle (normally sorted with a
tea-towel), was completely absent.DRIVING RANGE
Undoubtedly the weak point of the eVolve
is the driving range, which is about 120km
and does necessitate a planned itinerary. To
quote the Britz information, “smooth and
cruisy” driving is recommended.
Britz NZ does have several planned trips
and apps, such as PlugShare which can be
used to map out journeys. It’s not such a
problem in New Zealand given the much
shorter distances than n Australia and that
the necessary infrastructure for electric
vehicles seems to be more advanced than
that which has been introduced here.“50KW DC Fast Charging stations are
located in a variety of places in NZ —
some are pay-as-you-go and some are free”
TOP TO BOTTOM The built-in backrest comes in handy; book your charging bays in advance