Farizon Supervan vs LDV Edeliver 7

What's the difference?

You’d think Farizon would be onto a winner given it has created a van with cool looks and the packaging benefits that come with a dedicated EV architecture. However, the SuperVan left a sour taste in my mouth.

There are good bones here, but Farizon has a long way to go with fixing the electric motor whine and safety systems.

It’s great the company is aware of the SuperVan’s shortcomings and is currently working on software updates, but it begs the question, why wasn’t it good in the first place?

There’s room for improvement, but that room is getting smaller. For urban daily fleet or solo operation, using the convenience of back-to-base overnight charging, it offers a compelling alternative to diesel in terms of real-world driving range, performance, payload, warranty/servicing costs... and zero tailpipe emissions.

This electric van makes a fantastic first impression with its design. It’s futuristic and stands out on the road.

I haven’t driven a car that gets this much attention in a fair while, which is wild given this is a delivery van and traditionally they’re some of the dullest vehicles out there in terms of design.

What makes the SuperVan stand out the most is the variety of colours it comes in. Sure, you can get standard white if you want, but there’s also grey, green and blue. Our tester is finished in the latter which looks cool and modern.

The front continues the futuristic theme with a bright LED lighting signature for the headlights. They’re connected by an LED light strip, as well as an illuminated Farizon badge.

Given this van is electric, it doesn’t need a large, traditional grille to keep an engine cool. Instead there’s a small slotted opening at the bottom of the front bumper to cool the electric motor and high-voltage battery. It’s cool Farizon has made this van obviously look electric with this cue.

Beyond the stylish aero covers for the 16-inch steel wheels, there really isn’t much to talk about in terms of side profile design. It’s very slab-sided which is a classic van look.

It also leans into the trope that vans are essentially boxes on wheels. This is no bad thing because at the end of the day, a van is a work vehicle that’s meant to maximise hauling potential.

At the rear, this version of the SuperVan with the ‘Low Roof’ body style is perfectly square. It looks a little funny, but again this is a work-oriented vehicle that’s the opposite of a mullet - business at the back, party at the front.

Inside, Farizon has made a big attempt to make this electric van look luxurious and contemporary. Having synthetic leather seats is a luxury that many vans don’t have, along with the big digital instrument cluster and touchscreen multimedia system.

I’m a fan of the orange highlights around the cabin as they break up the monotonous black finishes.

Once you sit in the cabin, however, the commercial roots do begin to show. Virtually every surface is rock-hard plastic, which in a way is good because it means it’ll be hard-wearing in the long run.

The SWB Low Roof rides on a 3000mm wheelbase, which is 366mm shorter than the LWB models. As a result, its compact 4998mm overall length makes it well suited to work duties that require quick steering response and easy manoeuvrability in tight spaces. Plus its 1990mm height allows easy multi-storey car park access.

The front wheel-drive chassis has MacPherson strut front suspension, a leaf-spring solid-beam rear axle and four-wheel disc brakes, with the 77kWh lithium-ion battery mounted beneath the floor to optimise cargo bay volume.

It has a clean and streamlined appearance, with a functional grille that is “required to cool any later ICE (internal combustion engine) variants” according to LDV. So, in this application, it serves no purpose other than a styling feature.

Dark grey composite mouldings are used on the lower body sections to absorb the unsightly bumps and scrapes often inflected on these areas in hard-working vans.

The cabin’s interior has an upmarket look that creates a nice working environment, with a harmonious mix of colours, seat fabrics and soft-touch materials that display good fit and finish.

However, there’s no bulkhead to separate the cabin from the cargo bay, resulting in not only higher noise levels but also no protection for occupants from shifting cargo.

The cabin floor is covered in non-slip rubber finished in a smart ‘checker-plate’ pattern that's easy to wipe clean. The dash layout is uncluttered and the controls are easy to reach and intuitive to use. The transmission shifter is a stalk on the steering column.

Although the passenger bench seat has no adjustments, the centre position is surprisingly spacious, even for people my height (186cm) as it provides about 60mm of knee clearance from the dash. However, the centre passenger must also sit with their feet in a split-level position, due to a higher centre-floor section.

While good looks can get you so far, cabin practicality is where things are a little mixed for the SuperVan.

The driver’s seat is generally comfortable, offering a decent amount of support and a centre armrest, but the driving position is heavily compromised.

The worst offender are the pedals as they’re mounted so high that I need to take my foot off the floor to press them. Then the steering wheel only offers tilt adjustment and not reach.

As a result I need to have the seat pushed further back than I’d like to make sure I can press the pedals without making my right ankle hurt in stop-start traffic. Then even with the backrest virtually upright I still need to have arms extended almost fully to reach the wheel.

It’s not the kind of place I’d like to spend a considerable amount of time, which is disappointing because many people who drive this van will likely spend hours behind the wheel at a time.

Thankfully both seats offer both heating and ventilation, which is rather luxurious.

Ahead of the driver, the steering wheel is wrapped in buttery soft synthetic leather, like the seats, and is nice to hold. I appreciate the amount of physical buttons on it. They’re all clearly marked and easy to click.

The steering wheel is also heated and gets hot super quickly. There’s only one setting – on or off.

The digital instrument cluster looks flashy and has a range of informative pages you can cycle through. One even displays a vehicle weight page which is great if you’re unsure if you’re close to the gross vehicle mass (GVM).

Moving across, the touchscreen infotainment system looks glossy and high-definition, but there’s not much to do on it. This also means it’s hard to get lost and even if you do there are shortcut buttons on the right-hand side of the screen.

As standard there’s wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity which is great if you’ve got an iPhone, but terrible if you have an Android phone. This car has no Android Auto support whatsoever.

It’s great to see a continued use of physical switchgear around the cabin for things like the drive modes, regenerative braking settings and most notably the climate control settings. The latter are big and chunky, meaning they’re hard to miss.

In terms of storage up front, it’s fairly mediocre beyond big door pockets. There’s a slide out drawer with two cupholders and another small storage section, as well as another small storage drawer and a glovebox.

Around the side you'll find one of this van's most unique features. When you open up the passenger side front door and slide open the side cargo door, you’ll see this van doesn’t have a B-pillar. There’s only a plastic partition between the passenger and cargo areas.

As a result, the seatbelt for the passenger is mounted on the door. This feels a bit weird in the passenger seat because the seatbelt cuts across more than usual and doesn’t rest on your shoulder.

The SuperVan only comes with a single sliding door. You can’t opt for one on the driver’s side in Australia which is a little disappointing from an ease-of-use standpoint.

At the back there are rear barn doors that have stops at 90 degrees and 180 degrees, before opening all the way up to 270 degrees. This is great because you’ll be able to put whatever is on a forklift into the cargo area.

Speaking of the cargo area, it’s massive. This SWB Low Roof version measures in at 2690mm long, 1795mm wide and 1440mm tall. This equals 6.95 cubic metres, which is considerably more than any similarly sized van, whether that be diesel or electric.

It’s another major benefit of this van being built on a dedicated electric vehicle architecture, rather than a combustion platform that needs to take drivetrain and exhaust components into account.

Payload is 1300kg which is fairly standard for mid-size electric vans.

I like how low the load lip is at the back. This means you don’t have to lift things too high in order to get them in the cargo area.

In terms of amenities there are some lights, tie-down points, as well as three powerpoints for vehicle-to-load (V2L) support at up to 3.3kW. Disappointingly the latter didn’t work in our tester no matter how hard I tried…

Surprisingly under the cargo area is a full-size spare wheel. This is incredibly rare for an EV, especially one that’s all about maximising cargo capacity. It’s great peace of mind if you do long-distance travelling.

With a typically hefty 2300kg EV kerb weight, its 3650kg GVM allows for a sizeable 1350kg payload rating which is more than competitive with ICE rivals.

It’s also rated to tow up to 1500kg of braked trailer but with its 4250kg GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time), that would require a substantial 900kg reduction in vehicle payload to 450kg to avoid exceeding the GCM. So, keep these numbers in mind if you plan to tow heavy.

The cargo bay is lined to mid-height and accessed through a kerbside sliding door with 990mm opening width, or through symmetrical rear barn-doors with 180-degree opening that’s handy for forklifts or when accessing loading docks.

The load floor, with its non-slip rubber surface, is 2547mm long and 1800mm wide with 1390mm between the rear wheel-housings.

That means it can carry up to two standard 1165mm-square Aussie pallets, two 1000mm x 1200mm Euro pallets or up to three 800mm x 1200mm Euro pallets.

And with its 1328mm internal height, it offers a competitive 5.9 cubic metres of load volume.

It’s also equipped with six load anchorage points plus bright LED lighting and a large handle at the front of the side-door opening to assist access.

Cabin storage includes a bottle-holder and bin in each front door, plus smaller bins above and below. There are also bottle/cupholders on each side of the dash and the driver has small bins on each side of the steering column.

There’s also a single glove box and a slender storage shelf above it for small items. And the centre seat’s backrest folds forward and flat to reveal a small work desk, with two more cupholders and an elastic strap to hold documents or laptops in place.

The new single-motor eDeliver7 range consists of four models, comprising SWB Low Roof and LWB Low Roof with a 77kWh battery, plus LWB Low Roof and LWB High Roof with an 88kWh battery.

Our SWB Low Roof test vehicle is the entry-level model, with a list price of $59,990 plus on-road costs. That’s considerably higher than diesel rivals like the Ford Transit Custom 320S ($55,990), Hyundai Staria-Load ($46,740) and Toyota’s dominant HiAce ($50,886).

Our example, finished in 'Blanc White', comes standard with 16-inch steel wheels and 215/65R16 tyres plus a full-size spare. There’s also a Type 2 11kW AC charging cable, dusk-sensing LED headlights with DRLs, front/rear fog lamps, heated door mirrors, reversing camera and more.

The keyless-entry cabin offers seating for three, comprising a driver’s bucket seat and two-passenger bench seat with heating for the two outer seating positions (tough luck if you’re in the middle during winter).

The driver’s seat has multiple manual adjustments including lumbar support and base-cushion rake, plus a fold-down inboard armrest.

There’s also a 4.2-inch LCD instrument cluster, electronic parking brake and a heated multi-function synthetic leather steering wheel with height (but no reach) adjustment.

A big 12.3-inch touchscreen controls the four-speaker multimedia system, which includes digital radio and Apple/Android connectivity. There are also two USB ports and a 12-volt socket, an extensive safety menu and more.

All versions of the Farizon SuperVan in Australia are powered by a single, front-mounted electric motor that produces 170kW and 336Nm.

This is fed by an 83kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery which is sourced from Chinese battery producer CATL.

Farizon doesn’t quote an official 0-100km/h time, though it claims the top speed is 135km/h.

Our test vehicle has a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor which produces up to 150kW of power and 330Nm of instant torque, delivering drive to the front wheels via a single-speed transmission.

The driver can select three levels of regenerative braking intensity. We used the strongest setting to ensure optimum battery top-ups when driving. This setting also requires minimal use of the brake pedal, due to powerful retardation each time the accelerator is released.

There’s also a choice of three drive modes. ‘Eco’ ensures minimal battery drain but performance is restrained and speed is capped at 90km/h. ‘Normal’ offers a good compromise in engine response and energy use, with speed increased to 120km/h. ‘Power’ is also capped at 120km/h but offers the most energetic performance and consumes the most energy.

Claimed range for the SuperVan depends on the body configuration, but it’s up to 376km according to WLTP testing for the SWB Low Roof body style.

The battery pack can be DC fast-charged at rates up to 140kW, which would see the battery charge from 20 to 80 per cent in 36 minutes.

The battery pack can also be AC charged at rates up to 11kW, which would see the battery charge from 15 to 100 per cent in seven hours.

The SuperVan also offers vehicle-to-load through Australian domestic household plugs at up to 3.3kW of continuous power. This allows you to use the van’s battery pack to power appliances, tools, or other emergency backup systems.

Farizon doesn’t quote an official energy consumption figure for the SuperVan, but during my unladen testing I saw an average of 23.5kWh/100km, which would give a theoretical range of 350km. This would likely drop with a heavier load onboard.

LDV claims our test vehicle’s 77kWh battery can deliver a (WLTP) driving range of up to 318km. The battery was fully charged when we collected the vehicle and we drove 211km. This comprised mostly city and suburban driving, about 50km of which was hauling a one-tonne-plus payload.

At the completion of our test, the dash display was claiming average energy consumption of 26kWh/100km. So, based on that figure, LDV’s claimed range of more than 300km from a single charge (unladen) is credible.

The 77kWh battery takes about eight hours to charge from five to 100 per cent using an 11kW AC home charger, or around 43 minutes for 20-80 per cent using a 78kW DC charger.

Driving this van is punishing. It’s quite unlike any other modern van I’ve experienced as they can be fun to drive. This SuperVan, however, leaves me feeling like a lot of the elements need finessing.

First up there’s the electric motor. It makes a decent amount of power and easily gets this big box on wheels moving. In Sport mode the front wheels can get overwhelmed if you’re not careful.

However, this van has an incredibly loud electric motor whine. It builds as you gain speed, then once you reach your desired speed it hovers at an annoying high pitch. Some extra sound deadening would likely help.

Additionally, there’s a pedestrian warning sound that plays under 25km/h, as well as a beeping tone when reversing. While this is common for EVs, this one feels like it’s louder on the inside rather than the outside. This somewhat defeats the purpose.

There are three levels of regenerative braking as standard and all of them require you to use the brake pedal to come to a complete stop. This means there’s no one-pedal driving mode.

With all the settings the regen braking is either completely on or off. There’s no in between which creates a thrashy feeling in the cabin, especially when travelling down a hill and you’re trying to coast along without activating regen braking too much. As a result, I like the weakest regen setting the most.

Surprisingly the interaction between the regenerative braking and the traditional friction brakes is rather seamless. Even the brake pedal feels relatively normal, compared to a regular combustion vehicle, which is sometimes uncommon for EVs.

As standard there’s an electric power steering system which, unlike some other new Chinese vehicles, feels like it’s actually connected to the wheels. While you can tell the steering is electrically assisted, you can still feel what the wheels are doing.

Thanks to the dedicated electric architecture, the turning circle is surprisingly good for such a large vehicle. It measures in at 12.2 metres kerb-to-kerb.

Like many commercial vans, the SuperVan has a double wishbone independent front and a rear leaf spring suspension setup. This typically prioritises cargo-carrying ability rather than on-road comfort.

When unladen the SuperVan’s suspension is incredibly jittery and harsh. You can feel every single bump in the road and crossing a speed bump makes me grit my teeth. It doesn’t help that the tyres need to be pumped up high. As standard the rear tyres need to be pumped up to 61psi.

With some added weight onboard the SuperVan’s suspension does settle, but it’s still quite choppy. We didn’t get a chance to test this vehicle at the full GVM, but it would be interesting to see whether the rear springs get a little more compliant then. Range would likely plummet though.

In terms of visibility, you sit up high in the cabin and there’s a large windscreen. These are both big ticks. It also helps there are large side windows and side mirrors that make seeing kerbs easier.

Like many vans however, over-the-shoulder checks aren’t possible in the SuperVan as there are no rear windows, plus seeing out the back through the tiny envelope is virtually impossible.

Thankfully there are front and rear parking sensors as standard, as well as a surround-view camera that has good quality but a choppy camera feed. Having the standard sensors and camera system is great while doing tricky parking manoeuvres.

Lastly, let’s talk about the chimes… They are some of the loudest and most incessant I have ever experienced in a new car. They’re so loud that they honestly scared me at first.

There are a variety of different tones for all the different safety systems. One that grates the most are the intelligent speed limit assist which bongs each time it detects a new speed limit, then again if the system thinks you’re travelling over that limit. It’s particularly annoying because it picks up 40km/h school zones even when it’s not school zone times.

Another chime plays for the driver monitoring system when it can’t detect your eyes. This is annoying if you want to wear sunglasses while driving.

You can turn off these settings in a menu on the touchscreen, but they all default back to on when you restart the car.

Other loud bongs play when you change the drive mode, the regenerative braking setting, even when you turn on the adaptive cruise control. You just can’t escape it.

There’s no handle on the driver’s windscreen pillar to assist climbing aboard, or a driver’s left footrest, both of which would be welcome additions. The driver’s seat is comfortable and the flat-bottom steering wheel with height adjustment provides ample space.

It has clear eyelines to the large door mirrors but vision through the central rear view mirror is obscured by the thick central join of the symmetrical rear barn-doors, which is wide enough to block vision of a vehicle travelling behind. Asymmetric doors would alleviate this.

Being a solid-walled van, there’s a huge blind-spot over the driver’s left shoulder, but fortunately the left door-mirror is assisted by blind-spot monitoring. And there’s rear cross-traffic alert when reversing out of driveways or loading docks. These active aids should be mandatory on all solid-walled vans.

We’re often critical of steering and ride quality in Chinese LCVs but the eDeliver7 has refreshing chassis refinement, from its responsive and nicely-weighted steering to its relatively supple unladen ride quality.

The single 150kW/330Nm electric motor provides an effortless surge of acceleration in all drive modes, with the Power setting producing enough instant torque to make the front tyres chirp on occasions.

Its near-silent operation also ensures deceptive acceleration, which is why the absence of a digital speedo is a glaring omission and needs to be included.

The EV silence, though, is largely negated at speeds above 80km/h due to tyre roar emanating from the rear wheel-housings, which can be intrusive enough to require raised voices. Noise-absorbing materials in the cargo bay (like the HiAce’s full-length roof-liner) would be useful.

To test its load-hauling ability, we forklifted 975kg into the cargo bay. Combined with our two-man crew, this 1155kg payload was less than 200kg shy of the van’s 1350kg limit.

The rear leaf-springs barely flinched under this loading as they compressed only 25mm, which engaged large cone-shaped jounce rubbers above the springs that provide a smooth-riding second stage of support.

Impressively, changes in ride quality and acceleration were minimal, as it proved more than competent in hauling this big payload on a congested city and suburban test route which typified the urban environments these vehicles are designed for.

No ANCAP rating at this stage but it does boast a solid suite of passive and active features including six airbags, AEB, front collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keeping, speed sign recognition, front/rear parking sensors, reversing camera, adaptive cruise, tyre pressure monitoring, adjustable overspeed alarm and more.

The Farizon SuperVan is covered by a five-year, 200,000km warranty, while the high-voltage battery pack is covered for eight years or 200,000km.

There’s also five years of complimentary roadside assistance.

Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 30,000km, which is relatively standard for commercial vehicles.

The first five services are capped and all up cost $2730. This averages out to around $550 per service, which is a little on the expensive side for an EV. However, diesel vans can be much more expensive to maintain in the long-term.

Farizon currently doesn’t have a dealer network in Australia and only sells vehicles in Queensland through its website. The company is working on setting up a dealer network in the coming months and is prioritising the eastern seaboard.

LDV's warranty for the eDeliver 7 is five years/160,000km whichever occurs first, plus five years/unlimited km roadside assist.

The lithium-ion battery has a separate eight year/250,000km warranty.

Scheduled servicing is every two years/30,000km, with a capped-price of $1393 applying to the first three services up to six years/90,000km. That’s an average cost of only $464 every two years.