Kia Carnival vs LDV Edeliver 7

What's the difference?

Ok, here's the rub. Everything you just read could well be pointless. You like the Carnival. In fact, it sometimes makes up close to 90 per cent of the sales in its segment, and outsells all of its competitors combined.

So whether I like it or not, I suspect you'll be buying one anyway.

But I can say this - the new Carnival improves the formula right across the board. Well, everything except for price.

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.

Surely the greatest trick the Carnival pulls off, and it does so convincingly, is that it manages to make something so quintessentially uncool, the people-mover, and make it look good. Somehow sporty, even.

I like the Carnival's big, bold and blacked-out front end of the GT-Line, and with its two-tone 19-inch alloys, wide stance and low ride height, it looks almost like some mad attempt at a JDM tune car, rather than a sensible people mover.

Elsewhere, the boxy profile, the sharp body creases and the third-row compartment that kind of juts over the rear tyres like a house that's been extended all somehow work, and give the Carnival far more street cred than you might expect.

Inside, we spent time only in the flagship GT-Line and its GT-Line Lite sibling, and both present as calming, comfortable spaces, and Kia's minimalist approach to combining the climate and audio controls into a single strip (it's functionality can be changed by pushing a button) helps keep the cabin fuss free.

The tech in the top-spec models feels modern and on-point, too, and the materials are all nice under the touch. Be warned though, the cabin plastics get progressively worse the further back you sit, and the third row is cocooned by hard and scratchy plastics.

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.

The Carnival measures 5115mm in length, 1995mm in width and 1775mm in height, and it rides on a sizeable 3092mm wheelbase. 

And those mini-van dimensions have a predictably positive impact on luggage space, with room growing from 627 litres with all seating rows in place, to a massive 2827 litres with the third row stowed.

The key practicality perk here, though, is space, and lots of it. At 175cm, there was ample room for me in the middle row, and you can configure the cabin to your liking, too. You can slide the row on rails, for example, to prioritise leg room where you need it, and the middle seat folds down to reveal cupholders in a kind of hard plastic travel tray.

But even in the third row I could easily get comfortable, though head room begins to get a little tighter. There are cupholders and USB connection points, too, and I can honestly say you could send full-size humans back there and not feel overly guilty about it.

The Carnival will tow 2000kgs braked, too.

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.

There are two ICE options on the table here. The first is what I reckon is the lesser of the two, a 3.5-litre petrol V6, producing a rev-happy 216kW and 355Nm.

The better option, I think, is the 2.2-litre, four-cylinder diesel, which makes 148kW and 440Nm, and just suits the nature of the car a little better.

Both pair with an eight-speed automatic, and send their power to the front tyres.

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.

The petrol engine will sip a claimed 9.6 litres per hundred kilometres on the combined cycle, and produce 220g per kilometre of C02. The diesel lowers both those numbers, to 6.5 litres and 170 grams.

Both models are fitted with a 72-litre fuel tank, which means you’ll be sailing well north of $100 to fill one up.

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.

Forgive the horrific paraphrasing, but it seems rumours of the death of diesel have been greatly exaggerated, at least when it comes to the Kia Carnival.

Get this – diesel sales make up some 90 per cent of the Carnival's total haul, with petrol providing a pittance towards the sales total, presumably being picked up by fleet buyers.

And to be honest, that means nine out of 10 people are making the right choice here. Yes, the petrol makes more power, but it's the torque on offer from the diesel that makes pushing the Carnival around feel far more effortless.

The petrol engine can definitely get you moving, but it feels a bit too rev-happy and thrashy when you really put your foot down, and its significantly thirstier to boot.

The diesel isn't perfect – the thrum of the engine is a constant companion whenever you put your foot down, and there's actually too much torque on offer at times, like if you're accelerating up hill from a standstill on a damp road, and so the front tyres can scrabble and scramble for grip.

But it otherwise so perfectly suits the nature of the Carnival that it is definitely the best and most satisfying choice.

Another big change for this update is the fact that Kia's complete ride and handling program has been rolled out here. Kia says local work done on the outgoing car, the one this replaces, was curtailed by Covid and bushfires, and so ended up being done by correspondence.

This one, though, has had the whole enchilada thrown at it, and it shows. They've succeeded in making a bigger car feel smaller around you. It's not a sports car by any measure, but nor does it ever feel too big and unwieldily.

Part of that is down to the steering, which is direct and confidence inspiring, but mostly I suspect it's because of the ride, which is firmer than you might expect in a family hauler, but also offers a connection to that road below that makes you feel in control.

Whether a firm-ish ride is a perk or negative is up to you, but it definitely works for me.

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.

Like all Kias, the Carnival arrives with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with capped-price servicing throughout.

Kia’s servicing costs are higher than some of its competitors, though, so you might want to compare them, as well as compare what’s included, and the diesel model will usually cost slightly more to maintain than the petrol version.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000kms, and while the brand is still finalising the petrol servicing costs, the diesel prices are $386, $682, $480, $869, $434, $845 and $461, covering the first seven years of ownership.

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.