Iveco Daily vs Peugeot E-Expert

What's the difference?

This workhorse combines good cabin comfort and storage with an expansive tray (or other service body if you prefer) and GVM/GCM ratings large enough to cater for a multitude of heavy work requirements. It would be worthy of consideration if you have a car licence and need more than a one-tonne ute or full-size US pickup to get the job done.

The driving comfort and competent load-carrying ability of the E-Expert in a daily short-haul working role would be well suited to both tradies and fleets, if equipped with the convenience of back-to-base overnight charging at home or depot. However, its zero-tailpipe-emissions technology comes at a high price, requiring careful cost-benefit analysis by potential buyers.

The latest Daily E6 range features a revised and more streamlined grille design with more prominent horizontal louvres.

It has also switched from hydraulic to electric power-steering, bringing numerous benefits including steering wheel height/reach adjustment and the new ‘City Mode'.

The latter allows the driver to reduce low-speed steering effort by up to 70 per cent when negotiating tight worksites or loading zones. A welcome feature that allows turning with one or two fingers.

Iveco claims catering for big Aussies was of primary importance when refining its driver seating comfort which includes a taller headrest, longer seatbelts and seat-rails for greater adjustability, plus what it claims to be the first use of memory foam in commercial vehicles.

The only thing missing for RHD markets like Australia is a driver's left footrest, even though LHD markets get them as evidenced by the one residing in the passenger footwell, which is of course the driver's footwell in LHD models.

Passenger seating is often overlooked in single-cab designs but our test vehicle is unusually comfortable, particularly in the central position where even tall people can sit with sufficient knee clearance from the dash and with ample room for large boots on a flat floor.

The steel ladder-frame chassis rides on torsion-bar independent front suspension and a live rear axle, located by substantial double-stacked leaf-spring packs.

Braking is by four-wheel discs and it has a compact 13.5-metre turning circle, which certainly takes the stress out of U-turns, particularly at busy intersections.

The front bumper and lower sections of the doors, where most bumps and scrapes occur, have a low maintenance dark grey finish.

The bumper is now made in three pieces to minimise repair costs, as each section can be replaced independently if damaged rather than having to replace the entire unit.

Externally the E-Expert adopts the new look of the Peugeot light commercial range, featuring an elaborate grille design with the brand’s equally new emblem proudly displayed at its centre.

The three-seater cabin design has also been upgraded, with Peugeot claiming extensive revision of the driving position for greater comfort (see Practicality).

The E-Expert rides on a 3275mm wheelbase with 12.4-metre turning circle and combines MacPherson strut front suspension with semi-trailing arm/coil-spring rear suspension, rack and pinion steering with electric power-assistance and four-wheel disc brakes.

Its 1948mm height ensures it can easily access height-restricted areas like underground loading docks and multi-storey car parks.

With its 2135kg tare weight and 4495kg GVM, our test vehicle offers a substantial 2360kg payload rating, which is about double that of the sturdiest one-tonne cab-chassis models.

Even after you deduct the 304kg weight of its aftermarket aluminium tray from that figure, you're still left with 2056kg or more than two tonnes of payload capacity.

It's also rated to tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer and with its 7995kg GCM that means it can legally tow its maximum trailer weight while carrying its maximum GVM.

In other words, this jigger can legally haul just under 8.0 tonnes of combined payload and trailer, which opens the door to many working tasks requiring big load capacities.

The aluminium tray has a sturdy bulkhead with rear window protection and pivoting load retainers up top to ‘book-end' long lengths of pipe or timber.

It also has side-steps up front plus external rope-rails and internal load-anchorage points along each side.

There are two drop-sides along each flank separated by short and sturdy pillars to boost strength and rigidity.

According to our tape measure, this tray's internal work surface is 4070mm long and 2055mm wide with a drop-side depth of 330mm.

There are plenty of places to store things in the cabin starting with three tiers of storage in each door, with the largest equipped with small and large bottle-holders. There's also a full-width shelf at roof height.

The top of the dash has two large bins with clamshell lids, plus a central bin with two USB ports. There's also cup/small-bottle holders on each side of the dash and an open shelf and small glove box on the passenger side.

In the central dash there's a pop-out cupholder, shallow drawer for small items and a larger swing-open bin below them.

The centre seat's backrest folds forward and flat to provide a small work desk complete with a spring-loaded document clamp.

This desk can be raised to reveal a padded compartment below that's ideal for storing pens and slender electronic devices (phones, iPads etc).

Both base cushions in the passenger seat can also be tilted forward to access a large hidden area beneath, so there's good use of limited cabin space to maximise storage.

A highlight of the E-Expert’s design is its conspicuously low published tare (unladen) weight of only 2052kg, which is considerably lighter than not only its LDV eDeliver 7 LWB Low Roof rival at 2365kg but also the segment-leading diesel HiAce (in LWB Auto Barn-Door spec) at 2245kg.

This figure is largely the result of weight-saving chassis technology, given that its diesel Expert equivalent’s tare weight is an athletic 1698kg.  As a result, given the E-Expert’s 3053kg GVM, it has a substantial 1001kg payload rating, so it’s a genuine one-tonner.

It’s also rated to tow up to 1000kg of braked trailer, but given Peugeot does not publish a GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) we can't confirm how much payload it can carry while towing its maximum trailer weight.

The cargo bay, which with the standard bulkhead/cargo barrier has a competitive 6.1 cubic metres of load volume, is accessed through sliding doors on each side with 935mm openings or from the rear through symmetrical barn-doors with 180-degree opening to enhance forklift and loading dock access.

The cargo bay offers 2780mm of floor length and 1628mm width, which combined with 1258mm between the rear wheel-housings means it can carry two standard Aussie pallets, or up to three Euro pallets, secured with a choice of eight load-anchorage points.

The cargo bay floor length partially extends to more than 4.0 metres by opening the load-through flap at the lower left-hand side of the bulkhead and raising the outer passenger seat-base into its vertical storage position.

This allows long lengths of timber, copper/PVC pipe, carpet/lino rolls etc to slide through and be carried internally. There’s also an additional load-anchorage point in the passenger footwell. Overall, this is a practical design feature.

The bulkhead window is protected by a sturdy mesh guard, the cargo bay doors and walls are lined to mid-height and internal lighting is provided front and rear.

A tough liner to protect the load floor from scrapes and dents is not included as standard equipment, but is available as an accessory.

The cabin can seat up to three occupants with a combination of a driver’s bucket seat and two-passenger bench seat. All seats are trimmed in two-tone ‘Mica Grey' fabric and equipped with full lap-sash seatbelts.

Although this cabin design offers wide door access and good comfort for the driver and outer passenger, the centre passenger is compromised by the large central-dash protrusion that houses the gear-selection and drive-mode controls.

The only option for those seated in the middle is to position both legs on the passenger side of this protrusion, which ensures their feet intrude into the outer passenger footwell. So, trips with two passengers should only be short ones.

Another criticism is the lack of hinge detents or struts to hold the rear barn-doors open in their 180-degree positions, given that a gust of wind when loading/unloading can slam them shut with potential injury for the operator (we reckon lock-open devices should be mandatory for all vans equipped with barn-doors).

The cabin includes two tiers of storage in each front door, comprising a slender shelf at mid-height for small items and a large-bottle holder and big storage bin at the base for larger items.

On top of the dash-pad are a small-bottle/cupholder on each side and a large clamshell-lidded compartment in the centre. There’s also a glove box with another open storage compartment below, while the centre console offers a smartphone cradle.  

The centre seat’s base-cushion, which is hinged at the front, can be tilted forward to reveal a deep compartment below that’s lined with insulating polystyrene foam to keep small items of food and/or drink hot or cold.

The centre seat’s backrest can also fold forward and flat to reveal a mobile office space, with a small desk that can be rotated to provide a comfortable working angle. It also has a shallow tray for holding pens etc and an elastic strap to hold documents in place.

Our test vehicle, to use its full name, is the E-Expert Pro Long Auto. It’s available only as a long wheelbase variant with single electric motor, 75kWh battery and single-speed automatic transmission for a list price of $79,990.

That’s $18K more than LDV’s eDeliver 7 LWB Low Roof electric rival and more than $29K dearer than both its diesel Expert equivalent and Toyota’s LWB Auto Barn-Door HiAce.

Our example is also finished in 'Titanium Grey' metallic paint ($690 option) which pushes the list price over $80K.

Standard equipment on our test vehicle includes 16-inch steel wheels with black hubcaps, 215/65 Michelin tyres and a full-size spare.

There’s also a solid bulkhead between cabin and cargo bay with load-through flap (see Practicality), front/rear parking sensors, daytime running lights, a 180-degree reversing camera, demister/wiper on each rear barn-door, a Mode 3/Type 2 charging cable in a Peugeot storage bag and more.

Inside are two USB ports and two 12-volt sockets plus an electric parking brake, dual-zone climate control, heated steering wheel with multi-function controls, heated driver’s seat and a 10-inch digital driver’s display.

There’s also a 10-inch central touchscreen to control the four-speaker multimedia system which includes voice recognition, digital radio and wireless Apple/Android connectivity.

Iveco's 180EVID F1C is a heavy-duty 3.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel with variable geometry turbine technology and tough Euro 6 emissions compliance using AdBlue.

It produces 132kW at 3500rpm and 430Nm of torque at 1500rpm.

The optional ZF eight-speed torque converter automatic sends drive to the rear wheels and offers a choice of 'Eco' (Economy) and 'Power' drive modes plus the option of sequential manual-shifting, all using the stumpy dash-mounted shifter.

It also has overdrive on its seventh and eight ratios to optimise fuel economy, particularly at highway speeds.

The E-Expert’s single electric motor, which drives the front wheels through a single-speed automatic transmission, produces 100kW of power and 260Nm of torque. It also offers three grades of regenerative braking/battery charge replenishment, using paddle-shifters on the steering wheel.

When we stopped to refuel at the completion of our 303km test, the dash display was claiming average consumption of 11.3L/100km, of which about one third of that distance was hauling a heavy payload on a mix of city and suburban roads plus some highway travel.

Our own number, crunched from fuel bowser and trip meter readings, came in slightly lower at 10.9, which is excellent economy for a vehicle weighing more than 2.4 tonnes unladen and almost 4.0 tonnes for part of our test.

So, based on our figures, you could expect a realistic driving range of around 900km from its 100-litre tank.

Peugeot claims an official WLTP driving range of up to 330km from its 75kWh lithium-ion battery, which is mounted in a cradle beneath the load floor to maintain the same cargo bay load volume as its diesel sibling.

Our test vehicle was fully charged on collection and we drove 214km on that single charge, of which 50km was hauling a near-maximum payload on our city/suburban test route. We also switched between the three drive modes, but most driving was done in 'Normal' mode.

At the completion of our test, the dash readout was claiming average energy consumption of 25kWh/100km. So, based on these figures, a ‘real world’ driving range of up to 300km is credible, with potentially more using 'Eco' mode exclusively.

Peugeot claims the E-Expert can be charged from 0-100 per cent using a three-phase (11kW) wall-box in about 7.5 hours, or 0-80 per cent in 45 minutes using (100kW) DC quick-charge facilities.

It's easy to find a comfortable driving position given the memory foam bucket seat has adjustments for lumbar support, base-cushion rake and driver weight for its inbuilt suspension.

The fold-down inboard armrest, in partnership with the door's armrest, ensures balanced elbow support to reduce neck and shoulder strain.

There are good eyelines to the big door mirrors, with the bottom thirds of each offering wide-angle views. However, with the seat in its most rearward position, the slim column that separates the fixed and sliding glass in the driver's door slightly obscures the outside edge of the driver's door mirror, which suggests the single-cab has more rearward seat travel than the van version we've previously tested.

The electric power-steering is nicely weighted (particularly the new ‘city mode' in tight spots) and the four-wheel disc brakes have good stopping power.

It's a no-brainer the ride quality is harsh over bumps when unladen, given it's designed to cope with 8.0-tonne GCMs.

Fact is, in a working role, this vehicle would rarely if ever be driven without a substantial load to engage its big rear springs, which we did when forklifting 1.3 tonnes onto the tray. With driver this payload totalled 1.4 tonnes, which was still more than 600kg below its peak rating (with tray).

Even so, it was enough to make the ride much smoother, which is most relevant in this context. The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel maintained good performance hauling this load in city and suburban driving, displaying useful flexibility either side of its 1500rpm torque peak in Eco mode.

We did sample the Power mode, but found the engine was more than capable of handling this task in its economy setting, with the eight-speed auto doing its best work if left alone without the need to manual shift.

The engine only requires 2000rpm to maintain highway speeds, so engine (and tyre) noise is low at 110km/h. The most cabin noise comes from wind-buffeting around the mirrors, bulkhead frame and payload hanging in the breeze.

In Eco mode it performed well on our 13 per cent gradient, 2.0km-long set climb at 60km/h, comfortably hauling this load to the summit in third gear without the need to select Power mode.

Engine-braking on the way down, in a manually-selected second gear, pegged the road speed at 50km/h without the brakes needing to being applied for most of the descent, until it overrode our manual gear selection and shifted up to third when the engine was approaching its 4500rpm redline on overrun.

In our experience, these engine-protecting protocols are common in European commercial vehicles. However, it can spring a surprise if you're leaning on the engine to help restrain a big payload on a steep descent and it suddenly changes up a gear.

Even so, the engine-braking performance was good given its sizeable payload.

Thanks to adjustable lumbar support, a height/reach adjustable steering wheel with flat lower rim to allow extra torso/legroom and a decent-sized left footrest, it’s easy to find a comfortable driving position. The door mirrors, although smaller than some rivals, are adequate given their active blind-spot monitoring assistance.

The steering feel is responsive and nicely weighted, combined with sure-footed handling and supple unladen ride quality from its four-coil suspension.

It provides smooth and near-silent performance at speeds up to 80km/h, with tyre and wind noise becoming more intrusive at highway speeds. We drove most of the test in 'Normal' drive mode, which provides more than adequate city and suburban performance given the E-Expert’s relatively light kerb weight.

The energy-saving Eco mode causes a noticeable drop in response, as you’d expect. The 'Power' setting has the opposite effect, using more energy but producing improved acceleration even with a heavy load on board.

Adjustment of regenerative braking ('Low'/'Mid'/'High') using the steering wheel paddles produces noticeable differences in retardation across the three modes. In High mode, the effect is strong enough to require minimal use of the brake pedal.

To test its GVM rating we forklifted 770kg into the cargo bay, which combined with our two-man crew equalled a payload of 950kg which was only 50kg under its one-tonne limit.

Even so, the coil-spring rear suspension only compressed 40mm under this load, leaving more than 30mm of static bump-stop clearance that ensured no sharp bottoming-out over bumps.

On our congested 50km city/suburban test route, where mid-sized electric vans would typically operate, it handled this load with considerable ease in Normal mode with no requirement to use the Power setting.

The extra weight had a minimal effect on handling and braking response, with the E-Expert proving to be a competent load-hauler within its driving range.

Our only criticism is the positioning of the centre seat’s large headrest, which even when fully lowered blocks a large portion of the central mirror’s view through the bulkhead window and rear doors. As a result, we removed it and stored it away when not carrying a centre passenger.

No ANCAP rating but it comes standard with front, side and curtain airbags for driver and passenger plus AEB, lane-keeping, forward collision warning, blind-spot detection (but no rear cross-traffic alert), tyre pressure monitoring, traffic sign detection and more.

It also features what Peugeot calls the 'Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System' (AVAS), which generates sound that can be heard outside the vehicle when travelling at low speed, to enhance pedestrian safety.

Standard warranty is three years/200,000km (three years is short) but the option of up to five years/300,000km is available at extra cost.

Scheduled servicing is every 50,000km/12 months whichever occurs first.

Iveco offers a range of maintenance agreements to help owners manage maintenance costs.

E-Expert comes with a five-year/200,000km Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) specific warranty, plus eight-year battery warranty, 12-year corrosion warranty and three-year paint warranty.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/25,000km whichever occurs first, with capped-price for the first five scheduled services totalling $1846, or an annual average of $369. Pre-paid service plans up to five years offer considerable savings.