Ford Everest vs Mercedes-Benz Evito

What's the difference?

Hold back your tears. The Ford Everest Ambiente and Trend have been dumped and a new variant, the Active, is now the entry-grade in a revamped Everest line-up. 

The Active has a newly offered 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, which produces less power and torque than the twin-turbo engine it replaces – down 29kW and 95Nm, respectively.

So, does the new engine make the Everest any better or worse on- and off-road? And does it yield improved fuel economy?

Read on.

Numerous commercial van manufacturers are adding battery-electric vehicle (BEV) variants to their model line-ups.

Anecdotal evidence suggests these vehicles are best suited to city and suburban fleet duties, in which they cover short-loop daily driving distances that are comfortably within a manufacturer’s claimed battery range and return to depots each day to be recharged.

However, given that it’s still relatively early days for electric vans, potential buyers are faced with numerous potential deal-breakers compared to conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalents.

These include higher purchase prices, limited driving ranges, longer 'refuelling' times, heavier kerb weights (due to their large batteries) and resulting smaller payload ratings. And they are usually not rated to tow.

However, they can also offer lower operating costs. And they produce zero tailpipe emissions, which according to Mercedes-Benz "creates a powerful marketing tool (for buyers) to demonstrate their commitment to operating sustainably".

We recently trialled M-B’s Vito-based contender in this pioneering LCV market segment, to see how it measures up in Australia’s highly competitive medium-sized (2.5-3.5-tonne GVM) van market.