AVEVAI IONA, two Chinese electric vans set to arrive in Europe in 2019

The European market is undergoing rapid and constant evolution in the automotive sector, so we have several options for discovering new ways of getting around. Electrification looks set to prevail and, although European manufacturers are almost ready to take on this challenge, brands from China are arriving, looking to leverage their technological advantage and carve out a place in the European market.

This is the case of the Singapore-based company AVEVAI, which took advantage of the Guangzhou Show to present two new fully electric commercial vehicles. They are the AVEVAI IONA Van and the AVEVAI IONA Truck, a van and a small truck that aim to reach Europe from May 2019 and win a significant share of the continent’s electric mobility market.

Neither model boasts particularly spectacular figures, and they seem designed primarily for urban mobility. Both AVEVAI IONA models have a power output equivalent to 99 CV and a top speed of 104 km/h, while the entry-level version, with 80 CV, only reaches 90 km/h. Where they seem to have a certain advantage is in the range provided by their supercapacitor batteries.

For the AVEAI IONA Van, the range is rated at 330 kilometres per charge, while the AVEAI IONA Truck reaches 300 kilometres. To achieve this range, the former uses a 22kW battery, which reaches a full charge in just 4 hours. As for the AVEVAI IONA Truck, it needs only 2 hours to charge its battery, despite being the larger vehicle.

Both electric vans will be available with short and long wheelbase bodies, with a payload capacity of up to 2,500 kilos. The key selling point of these two models in taking on their European rivals will be price, as it is expected to sit below that of other electric commercial vehicles. To begin with, a warranty of 5 years or 200,000 kilometres has been planned, which will also need to be considered to improve the maintenance service.