Isuzu NPR vs Peugeot E-Partner

What's the difference?

Driving a truck of this size has never been easier than it is with these new Isuzus. Once you’ve worked out how to judge gaps in traffic and have acclimatised to the bulk of a light truck, it’s all pretty straight-forward.

The greater levels of connectivity and safety in this generation of trucks is a big leap on the OH and S front, and there’s no trade-off in terms of the traditional practicalities trucks like these offer.

Our advice would be to option up the suspension driver’s seat and, where possible, look into the independent front suspension, too, as this gives the vehicle a more car-like feel in terms of both steering and ride quality.

Meantime, the option of the ready-to-work packages makes the whole idea of getting into a light truck all the more simple, fuss-free and financially attractive. Which are all things fleet managers around the world can agree on.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

It’s a lot of money for a small commercial vehicle that’s well into its current model cycle in Europe, falls short on benchmark safety and requires convenient charging infrastructure to minimise inconvenience for owners. However, its emissions-free drivetrain is quiet and competent under load, with a range that should comfortably cater for the daily urban use small van operators typically require. Whether those positives outweigh the negatives, only a potential buyer can decide.

While it’s generally agreed that trucks trail cars and utes in terms of safety and connectivity, the latest N-Series trucks are aimed at reversing that trend. Lots of active safety gear has been added to the N-Series in the most recent upgrade and that’s led to a much safer vehicle.

The ability to connect Apple CarPlay and Android devices is also a major bonus this time around.

The other element unique to Isuzu is the ability for customers to order a fully-finished truck, rather than order the basic package from the truck manufacturer and then finding a third-party supplier for the body they need.

Isuzu calls it its ready-to-work option and it spans various types of bodies including a service body, conventional drop-side tray, enclosed van and even a tipper body. As an off-the-shelf alternative to the traditional way of ordering and specifying a truck, it’s a surprise nobody else has done it, although Isuzu’s volumes definitely play a part.

The single electric motor is positioned at the front where it drives the front wheels. The 50kWh lithium-ion battery that provides its energy is located beneath the cargo bay’s load floor to ensure that the total load volume, floor loading heights, etc, are identical to the petrol version.

The same applies to its compact 2975mm wheelbase, 4753mm length, 1921mm width and car park-friendly 1880mm height.

The e-Partner rides on MacPherson strut front suspension and coil-spring trailing-arm rear suspension, with electric power steering and four-wheel disc brakes. Its 11.4-metre turning circle is larger than we expected.

There are unpainted dark grey plastic finishes in all the places where bumps, scrapes and wear usually occur in working vans including hubcaps, bumpers, body side-mouldings, door mirrors and handles. The charging port is located above the left rear wheel.

A sealed metal bulkhead with central window separates the cabin and cargo bay, which minimises tyre noise emanating from the rear-wheel housings and doubles as a cargo barrier.

The cabin architecture, with two bucket seats and wipe-clean vinyl floor, is outwardly the same as the petrol version but the driver’s analogue instrument display has been reconfigured for the electric drivetrain.

This includes continual display of energy consumption levels, comprising 'Eco' (minimum consumption), 'Power' (maximum consumption) and 'Charge' (energy recovery from regenerative braking).

It also displays energy consumption by the cabin heating/air-conditioning and battery charge-level, while the dash’s central touchscreen includes an ‘electric menu’ that monitors live energy flows and consumption statistics plus allows scheduling of delayed charging if required.

Because they’re made to work first and foremost, the cabins of these 4.5-tonne trucks are roomy and offer plenty of storage space for clipboards, receipt books, Eskies and more.

As a workspace rather than simple transport, plenty of thought has gone into how they function for an eight-hour shift, too, and options like suspension driver’s seats will make a difference.

They’re a bit of a climb up, though, so getting in and out requires at least some measure of dexterity. But once you are in, the view through that huge, panoramic windscreen is fabulous and if you like the seat-height advantage of an SUV, you’ll love an N-Series truck.

Beyond that, the quality of the interior plastics still trails the car and ute world by a margin, and the hard plastic surfaces aren’t great to look at or engage with. By trucks standards, though, they’re on the money.

The e-Partner’s 1632kg tare weight is about a quarter of a tonne (247kg) heavier than its 1385kg petrol-engine equivalent, largely caused by the lithium-ion battery pack.

So, even though the electric model has more power (100kW vs 96kW) and torque (260Nm vs 230Nm), the battery ensures it has an inferior power-to-weight ratio, with the e-Partner carrying 16.3kg/kW compared to the petrol’s 14.4kg/kW.

The e-Partner’s 753kg payload rating is also 182kg less than its petrol sibling, so be mindful of these differences if payload is important.

The e-Partner is also rated to tow up to 750kg, but given Peugeot does not publish a GCM figure (how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) we don’t know if it can haul its maximum payload while towing its maximum trailer weight.

The cargo bay, with 3.9 cubic metres of load volume, is a window-free zone accessed by a sliding door on each side and asymmetrical rear barn-doors that open to 180 degrees for optimum loading access.

With its 2167mm length, 1527mm width, 1243mm height and 1229mm between the rear-wheel housings, it can carry one standard Aussie pallet or two Euro pallets held in place by a choice of six load-anchorage points.

The cargo bay is lined to mid-height and there’s protective mesh over the bulkhead window. However, the bulkhead protrudes into the sliding door openings given the need to allow sufficient cabin space for the seat backrests.

There’s also no load-floor protection provided as standard, so to avoid scratches and dents we’d recommend fitting a floor-liner like the thick rubber one fitted to our test vehicle.

Cabin storage includes a full-width shelf above the windscreen and bins in the base of each door. The dash offers small bottle/cupholders on each side plus a lidded upper glove box and open storage on the passenger side.

The dash extension, where the gear-selector and electronic handbrake reside, offers more open storage as does the floor-mounted centre console.

Our criticisms include the lack of a dedicated storage place for the charging cable, which is supplied in a zip-up vinyl bag.

Although it was sitting on the passenger floor when we collected the vehicle, it was difficult to find a secure place to store it with a passenger aboard. It ended up unsecured in the cargo bay.

The rear barn-doors also do not have any stays to keep them open when positioned at 180 degrees.

As a result, the slightest breeze swings them shut.

And due to the lack of any dedicated bottle-holders in the front door bins, bottles tend to topple onto their sides and can be difficult to extract when driving.

Our test vehicle is available in only one specification, based on the ‘Pro Long Auto’ which means it’s the more work-focused ‘Pro’ model grade with long wheelbase and automatic, which in this application is a single-speed transmission.

With a 100kW/260Nm single electric motor and 50kWh lithium-ion battery, it has an eye-opening list price of $59,990, plus on-road costs.

That represents a substantial 56 per cent increase over its petrol-powered equivalent ($38,388) and optional metallic paint like ours adds $690.

However, the e-Partner has more power and torque with zero drivetrain emissions. It also comes standard with work-focused 16-inch steel wheels and 215/65R16 Michelin tyres with a full-size spare, a toggle-style gear selector, electric parking brake, reversing camera, two-way adjustable leather-rimmed steering wheel, 12-volt accessory socket and USB port plus a four-speaker multimedia system with 8.0-inch touchscreen, digital radio and multiple connectivity including Apple and Android devices.

The base engine for the N-Series trucks is a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel with 110kW of power and 375Nm of torque. Available across the short and mid-wheelbase N-Series models, the 3.0-litre engine is more or less the same engine as seen in the Isuzu D-Max ute range.

As such, it has a good reputation for durability and although there are some turbocharger and tuning changes compared with the D-Max, the basic engine is very similar.

There’s also a much more heavy-duty, truck-like engine option. That is also a four-cylinder unit, but with a massive 5.2 litres of capacity, it’s a real statement of intent. Although power is only marginally more than the 3.0-litre engine, at 114kW, torque is the big winner with 419Nm at just 1600rpm.

Typically fitted to N-Series models with the wider cabin, the 5.2-litre engine also shifts the GCM up a gear to 9000kg from 8000kg. The braked towing limit of the bigger-engined truck also jumps to 4500kg (from 4000kg).

The 3.0L trucks are fitted with either a conventional five-speed manual gearbox or a robotised six-speed manual (which operates like an automatic and is driven with just two pedals). The bigger engined versions have a choice of six-speed manual or six-speed robotised manual.

The single electric motor and 50kWh lithium-ion battery combination produces 100kW of power and 260Nm of instant torque.

It also offers three switchable drive modes including Eco (60kW, 190Nm) for minimal performance and energy use, Normal (80kW, 210Nm) which is a happy medium for everyday use and Power (100kW, 260Nm) for maximum performance when hauling heavy loads.

The gear-selector controls Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive and Brake functions. There's also a button marked B which engages regenerative braking for optimum battery top-ups when driving.

The Mode 3 Type 2 wall-box/public station charging cable is supplied as standard, but buyers can also purchase a domestic wall socket cable for home-charging.

Quickest charge time from 0-80 per cent is 30 minutes using a 100kW DC charger while a 0-100 per cent charge using a single-phase wall-box (7.4kW) takes about 7.5 hours.

Home-charging from 0-100 per cent using a domestic wall socket (2.3kW) takes about 24 hours.

The first thing to know is that vehicles in this weight class – unlike passenger cars and dual-cab utes - don’t have to undergo an official government test for fuel economy. So there’s no simple comparison to be made here.

Also, there are simply too many variables in truck fuel economy to make definitive statements. Unlike cars which are usually loaded to within a few hundred kilograms trip-to-trip, a truck’s mass can vary enormously from empty to fully loaded (and with what) and those circumstances will vary nearly every day.

Then there’s the issue of what body is fitted to the chassis. Obviously, a high van body will contribute a lot more drag at highway speeds than a low-line tray body.

With all that in mind, it’s impossible to generalise although you can expect fuel economy to increase the more you put on board or hitch to the tow-bar.

It’s also worth mentioning that Isuzu’s N-Series engines meet Euro 5 emissions standard for diesel engines. N-Series trucks have fuel tanks ranging from 75 to 100 litres.

Peugeot claims an official WLTP driving range of 258km. The dash display was showing a projected driving range of 280km when we collected the vehicle.

A few days later when we stopped to top-up the battery at a public charging station, after 135km of unladen city and suburban driving, it was displaying average consumption of 20.4kWh/100km.

When charging was completed, the dash display was claiming 270km of driving range. This had dropped to 194km the following day when we stopped to load the vehicle for our GVM test. Average consumption had also dropped to 19.0kWh/100km.

We then drove 52km with a heavy payload in busy traffic, during which consumption dropped again to 18.8kWh/100km with regular switching between the drive modes.

After unloading and then returning the vehicle to Peugeot, there was still 96km of range remaining and energy consumption had dropped again to 18.4kWh/100km.

So, we covered a total of 271km during our test, of which about one quarter was with a heavy payload.

So, based on its lowest consumption figure, Peugeot’s claimed 258km range in real world driving conditions is pretty accurate by our measure.

Although the sheer size of the Isuzu can be a bit daunting at first, once you’re in with the excellent side mirrors adjusted, it’s vastly less confronting.

The view to the front and sides is brilliant thanks to the deep glass and the high-and-mighty seating position is terrific for finding the corners of the vehicle, too.

You still need to understand that the length of the truck imposes some unconventional lines through corners, and leaving plenty of space between yourself and the insides of corners soon becomes second nature.

The seating position itself offers up a classic truck-like set-up with an upright seat-back and an almost flat steering wheel. It sounds terrible to car drivers but it’s not. It’s actually very comfortable for long stints at the helm.

Ride quality is compromised to an extent by the N-Series’ role as a hauler (and spring rates to suit that role) but the optional independent front suspension makes it a lot more comfy.

And even with the more traditional front suspension fitted, the fast steering makes the truck a lot more manoeuvrable than you might have imagined.

The biggest gripe for us was the transmission, specifically, the optional robotised manual six-speed. This unit really does hark back to the very early days of the technology (before the dual-clutch layout arrived) and the shifts are slow and stilted with a distinct lurch as the transmission swaps gears and engages the clutch.

You can improve things by lifting off the accelerator to initiate each shift, but fundamentally, modern dual-clutch transmissions do a much better job.

The other issue will be for drivers who like to left-foot brake in any vehicle with two pedals.

Unfortunately for them, the Isuzu places both pedals to the right of the big, almost vertical steering column with neatly cleaves the driver’s footwell in two, making left-foot braking impossible.

It has a comfortable driving position thanks to a reasonably spacious cabin, two-way adjustable steering wheel, left footrest and fold-down inboard armrest.

However, the base cushion feels a tad short for proper upper-thigh support and does not have rake adjustment.

The flat top of the rectangular steering wheel provides a clear view of the instrument display while the flat bottom allows ample driver clearance.

The electric motor with its muted hum delivers a liquid-like flow of acceleration that’s different to a petrol engine.

The lack of engine noise also makes other sounds more prominent, including tyre roar on coarse bitumen surfaces and thumps from the rear suspension over larger bumps.

The extra battery weight is not a noticeable hindrance in stop-start traffic, given the instant torque of the electric motor.

Its location under the load floor also contributes to a low centre of gravity which makes the e-Partner feel well-planted on the road. Even so, it takes a leisurely 11.2 seconds to accelerate from 0-100km/h.

To test its payload rating we forklifted 650kg into the cargo bay which with driver was just under its 753kg limit. The rear suspension compressed 70mm, but there was no bottoming-out over bumps due to large rubber cones positioned inside the coil springs that assist in supporting heavy loads.

We covered more than 50km with this weight in city and suburban driving and its performance was good in all modes including the energy-saving Eco. Energy consumption did not spike as expected.

Our only gripes from a driver’s perspective are the absence of blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, which should be mandatory in all solid-walled vans given the huge blind-spot over the driver’s left shoulder. Relying only on the relatively small passenger door mirror is potentially hazardous.

The other is the cruise control stalk located on the steering column, which is hidden from view by the steering wheel arm. Therefore, it must be operated purely by feel, which can be fiddly and distracting when driving.

Only four from a possible five ANCAP stars for the e-Partner (achieved 2018) and the lack of blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and adaptive cruise control, etc, highlight a safety menu in need of updating.

Even so, it does have front, side and curtain airbags for driver and passenger plus AEB, lane-keeping, audible low-speed pedestrian alert and tyre under-inflation warning.

Because trucks are designed to be used day in, day out, the warranty reflects that. In this case, it’s six years and 250,000km of factory cover for any two-wheel drive N-Series.

The four-wheel-drive variants are, due to the tasks they’re usually put to, covered for three years or 150,000km.

Isuzu also provides six years of roadside assistance. There’s also capped-price servicing on a pay-up-front basis although the cost varies between models. 

Warranty is five years/200,000km plus eight years/160,000km for the battery. There are also three-year paintwork and 12-year corrosion warranties.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/25,000km, whichever occurs first.

The pre-paid service plan price of $1000 covers the first five scheduled services, or just $200 per service.