Maxus eDeliver 7 review

Maxus is to follow up its range of electric models with a new Maxus eDeliver 7. Here's what we know.

The Maxus eDeliver 7 will bridge the gap between a new mid-sized van, that will sit above the Maxus eDeliver 3 in size, and the Maxus eDeliver 9. The new mid-sized van is likely to be called the Maxus eDeliver 5.

The eDeliver 5 will be of a similar size to current medium-sized vans like the Renault Trafic. It gets a dual-passenger seat, and is larger than eDeliver 3 with a loadspace of more than 6m³ up to 8m³. It will be based on the MILA medium-sized all-electric platform from SAIC. eDeliver 5 and eDeliver 7 will both have a 74kW battery with two wheelbase lengths as well as the option of a chassis cab.

What we know about the Maxus eDeliver 7

The eDeliver 7 will then be positioned above the new mid-sized van in the range, but sit below the Maxus eDeliver 9. The Maxus eDeliver 7 will have a loadspace capacity of between 7.2m³ to 9.8m³.

It will have power outputs of 76kW or 88kW and be available as a L1 or L2 (standard or long wheelbase) van with H1 and H2 roof heights. It will be available at two different gross vehicle weights (GVW) of 3-tonnes and 3.2-tonnes.

Payload for the Maxus eDeliver 7 is from 1025kg up to 1200kg.

There is also a passenger variant of a similar size to the Maxus eDeliver 7 called the V70, which is not coming to the UK.

Going forward, all new Maxus van development will be for electric vans only. The Deliver 9 is likely to end as a diesel model by 2025. This is due to the Euro-7 legislation that has yet to be finalised. Going forward, it will continue as the electric only eDeliver 9.

The eDeliver 9 is the bigger seller of the two models currently on sale. It sells roughly six in ten, with eDeliver 3 making up the rest of sales. However just 36% of eDeliver 9 sales are currently for the electric model. Maxus, however, expects the electric version to become the more popular van within the coming months as supply problems are eased.

The Chinese factory has been prioritising European deliveries which has seen the lead time drop to around 20 weeks.

Other Maxus models in the pipeline

In addition, Maxus will also use their HILA heavy duty platform for the base for a new heavy truck tractor unit.  The heavy vehicles which include a new 7.5-tonne light truck which will be sold through its dealers with experience in heavy goods vehicles. Customers are expected to be in home delivery and construction markets.

Harris Maxus UK hope to reach around 60 dealers to supply their light commercial vehicles and pick-up truck models. This follows the launch of the Maxus T90 EV the first electrified pick-up truck to go on sale in the UK. Maxus received more than 1000 orders when the order books opened in April 2022. There’s just one trim level for the T90 EV, and it is currently only a 4x2. The payload has increased to more than one tonne since its reveal, and its 1.5-tonne towing capacity has been confirmed. There will be a 4x4 four wheel drive Maxus T90 EV in Q3 2024.

Finally, a hydrogen powertrain for the eDeliver 9 could be possible. But with a lack of infrastructure in Europe it looks unlikely that a hydrogen powered van will come any time soon. Hydrogen large vans from Maxus are on the market in China.

Offered with two different lengths (LI and 12) and two different heights (H1 and H2), it is listed with load cubes ranging
from 5.9rn' to 8.7m3. Payload capacities run from 1,025kg to 1,200kg. Two different battery capacities are up for grabs - 77kWh or 88kWh - with a 150kW motor standard on all models. The exterior and interior styling may not be to everybody's taste, and we're not overly-keen on the front grille. One observer remarked that it reminded him of his granny's old net curtains. Putting aesthetics to one side, we got to grips with an L2H1 model with the 77kWh pack.
Load bay Access to the cargo area is by means of a sliding nearside door or through twin rear doors which can be swung through 90 degrees, or through 180 degrees if you liberate the easy-to-release stays. Eight load tie-down rings are provided, and the cab's occupants are protected against injury from unsecured cargo sliding forwards by a steel bulkhead topped off by a window. The Boor is protected from scratches and scrapes by a tailored robber mat and plastic panels partially protect the sides and doors, although there is no protection for the wheel boxes, which look vulnerable. It is a bit of a step up into the load area, but at least the side door aperture incorporates a step and a grab handle. The rear door aperture doesn't, and needs to. A step set into the back bumper wouldn't come amiss. At 1,135kg, the van's gross payload capacity isn't exactly outstanding for what turns out to be a 3.5-toner. That's the penalty you pay for the burden imposed by an electric light commercial's battery pack. At 1.5t, its towing capacity is modest too, but better than what is on offer from some of its electric rivals. We were somewhat concerned about the presence of a ladder mounted on the offside rear door of our demonstrator giving access to the roof bars. Neither the rack nor the bars are standard features. While an attempt has been made to make the use of the ladder as safe as possible, drivers should nevertheless be discouraged from climbing on top of vans because of the risk of a fall. It should be noted that one of the Health and Safety Executive's key priorities is the prevention of falls from height in the workplace. Systems are available which allow ladders for example to be lowered from roof racks and put back again without the driver having to leave the ground. They should be fitted instead.
Interior and equipment The eDeliver 7 is offered with just one level of specification in the UK and it is a fairly comprehensive one. For your money, you get a heated driver's seat, a heated steering wheel (both are height-adjustable), air-conditioning, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera that offers an impressive degree of clarity. It can deliver a bird's-eye view to ensure that any potential obstacles are spotted and hopefully avoided. Electric windows, heated and electrically-adjustable exterior mirrors and a heated windscreen are included in the deal too. A DAB radio is provided, as are Bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto along with a pair of USB ports and a 12v socket. Much of what goes on in the three-seater cab is orchestrated by the 12.3in touchscreen, but the heating and ventilation system is controlled by a separate set of user-friendly knurled knobs. As a consequence there is no need to spend ages prodding the screen when all you want to do is turn down the temperature a little. Maybe we're too obsessed with Internet conspiracy theories, but we weren't too happy about the presence of a driver-facing camera on the driver's side A-pill. Was somebody in distant Beijing keeping an eye on our activities? Were our trips being recorded for future reference? Absolutely not, insists Maxus. The camera does not make recordings or transmit them, it says, but simply keeps an eye on the driver for signs of fatigue. If you yawn, then a warning pops up advising you to stop and get a cup of coffee. Channelling our inner child, for a while we kept yawning every few minutes just to make it appear That A-pillar ought to feature a grab-handle, incidentally. In-cab storage systems include three bins ha each of the doors, with the middle bin incorporating a moulding which can grasp a flask or a bottle of water. The dashboard incorporates a lidded bin with a shelf above it and you will find a shelf on top of the fascia too.

Pull down the centre section of the middle seat’s back and it turns into a desk with a couple of cup-holders (one or two more elsewhere in the cab wouldn’t come amiss) and an elasticated strap to keep whatever paperwork you have in order. Pull up the middle seat’s cushion and you will find a compartment underneath; somewhere you can hide your smartphone rather than leave it lying around in the cab.
A comprehensive package of safety systems would appear to cover pretty much all eventualities.
An electronic stability programme, electronic brakeforce assist and hill hold control are all installed but that's only the start. Also doing their bit are blind spot detection, lane change assist, autonomous emergency braking, front collision warning, lane departure warning and lane keep assist, emergency lane keep assist, and automatic cruise control.
Our favourite safety device, however, is rear cross traffic alert, which warns you if you are about to reverse into the path of an oncoming vehicle.
Driver, passenger, side, and curtain airbags are all present and correct. Front fog lights are fitted, the wipers come on automatically when rain spatters the windscreen, and the LED headlights illuminate automatically when it starts to get dark.
Disc brakes are installed all round, and the suspension is independent at the front with MacPherson struts.
Our demonstrator sat on 16in steel wheels graced with plastic trims and shod with Giti Gitivan 600 215/65 R16 C tyres. Their state of health was watched over by a tyre pressure monitoring system, and we were pleased to see that a full-size spare wheel was provided.
The electric motor delivers up to 330Nm of torque. The battery pack takes eight hours to charge from 5% to 100% of its capacity if you are using an 11kW AC charger says Maxus. Use a 90kW DC charger and you can get from 20% to 80% in 43 minutes, it adds.
You will find the battery charging point beneath a flap next to the door on the passenger side of the cab. Open the door and you can open the flap.

A keyless push-button start is fitted, and a steering column stalk gives you the choice of Drive, Reverse or Neutral. You tap a button on the end to put the van into Park. A switch on the dashboard allows you to move between three different driving modes. You choose between Eco, Normal and Power.
Eco helps preserve your range but throttles the van's performance noticeably. Power boosts it considerably, delivering rapid acceleration, but you pay for all that additional punch by seeing the projected range diminish more quickly. We stuck to Normal most of the time and found it coped well with almost all eventualities given that the load we were carrying weighed no more than 400kg. We only turned to Power when we had to climb a really steep incline, and to Eco when we became a little concerned (probably unnecessarily) that we might run out of range before we reached home base.

The van's ride is firm, but not uncomfortably so if you've got a bit of weight on board, with the suspension capable of coping with most of what Britain's deteriorating highway surfaces can throw at it.
Run around completely empty, and it gets a lot choppier, but that's a characteristic of most light commercials. We had no issues with the handling, happily tackling tight rural bends without having any concern that the eDeliver 7 would suddenly break away. The handling could perhaps stand to be a little sharper but that's not a major issue.
On the debit side, the in-cab noise levels generated by the tyres and suspension are a lot more noticeable without a diesel engine to mask them. You can barely hear the whirring of the electric
motor.
What you can of course hear are the regular warning bings and bongs from the driver assistance systems. While all these alerts are well-meaning, and we know we shouldn't be ungrateful, they can become irritating after a while.
You get an especially loud beep if you exceed the posted speed limit thanks to the van's speed limit sign identification system. Unfortunately the eDeliver 7 does not always identify the limit correctly, which causes confusion.
If you want to support your range by pumping more charge into the battery then you can use the onboard regeneration system, which recovers energy that would otherwise be dissipate when the vehicle slows down.
It is accessed using the touchscreen and there are three different levels. We stayed with Level Three, which is the most noticeable when you lift your foot off the accelerator and it cuts in, and the most effective.
A dashboard display show how much power you are consuming, how much is being pumped into the battery pack by regeneration, and how much range you have got left.
Projected range is 190 miles on the combined cycle according to WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) figures.

Service intervals are set at two years/18,000 miles. The warranty lasts for five years/60,000 miles and we'd like to see the mileage limit set higher. That said, the battery is covered for an undoubtedly- impressive eight years/155,000 miles. Shame there are no side rubbing strips to protect the body against minor damage. The Maxus dealer network has expanded steadily and now boasts 60 locations, including service dealers. We'd like to give a big shout-out to one of the dealerships - Maxus Gloucestershire in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean - for its support in putting together this road test.