LDV eT60 electric ute, eDeliver 9 van and MIFA 9 people mover have big EV price premiums

LDV has announced the prices of its trio of new electric models – and they’re not cheap. 

Let’s start with the eDeliver 9 which arrives in three body styles, with pricing starting from $99,990 for the cab chassis, $116,537 for the LWB MR, and $118,836 for the LWB HR. All those prices are before on-road costs.

It’s an even more pricey proposition for the MIFA 9 people-mover, which steps from $106,000 for the entry-level Mode, to $117,000 for the mid-spec executive, to a considerable $131,000 for the flagship Luxe, with all prices again being before on-road costs.

Which brings us to Australia’s first electric ute. The new LDV eT60 ute – an EV adaptation of the familiar diesel-powered T60 – sells from $92,990 drive-away. That’s about double the price of the vehicle it’s based on.

And the EV version gets less in the way of standard equipment.

Sure, there’s some fake leather trim and rain-sensing wipers, as well as 17-inch alloy wheels.

But there’s no cruise control, no autonomous emergency braking and no blind-spot warning. The battery pack underneath means there’s also no room for a spare tyre, with a repair kit in its place.

Plus, the eT60 drives only its rear wheels with a single electric motor (making 130kW/310Nm), something that instantly limits its appeal.

LDV Australia defends the big price tag by pointing out the eT60 gets a large battery.

The LFP battery (which has similar chemistry to that used on Tesla’s Rear Wheel Drive models) has a capacity of 88.55kWh, for a claimed WLTP range of 330km.

The company also says the EV transition in the ute space will be a slow burn, at least with the current government incentives.

“We’re not looking for EVs to be the backbone of our business today,” says LDV Australia general manager Dinesh Chinnappa. “Our core business is our T60s and Deliver 9s and G10s and D90s. We’re in this lucky situation where we can offer commercial EVs to begin the transition.”

Another core part of the LDV triple EV power play is the eDeliver 9.

It’s based on the regular Deliver 9 van but, like the eT60 ute, does away with the internal combustion engine and replaces it with an electric motor and battery pack.

It uses the same 88.55kWh battery pack as the eT60 ute, but the eDeliver 9’s electric motor makes a bit more power, with outputs of 150kW and 310Nm, again sending its power to the front wheels.

The final model of the LDV EV arrivals is called the MIFA 9. It’s based on the newly arrived MIFA people mover.

However, despite having an ICE sibling it has a skateboard architecture underneath, whereby the bespoke battery pack and wheels form the chassis that is then attached to the body.

Like the petrol powered MIFA (without the “9”) the MIFA 9 electric people mover is available in three grades, Mode, Executive and Luxe. It has seven seats arranged in a 2-2-3 configuration. However, an eight-seater will arrive here early in 2023.

It is fitted with a 90kWh Lithium-ion battery, producing a range of up to 440kms, while its electric motor produces 180kW and 350Nm.

LDV says it is holding about 80 orders for its trio of EV newcomers.

Most of those orders are for the eT60 ute, with some companies keen to get a zero emissions workhorse.

“A ute is a high proportion of[the early interest], but we’re also getting some reasonable interest and enquiry on pre-sale of the van,” says Chinnappa.

Unsurprisingly it’s businesses and fleets that have shown the early interest, something likely to remain the case given the price tags.

“We’ve got mining companies, we’ve got construction companies, we’ve got people in the energy renewables sector … and there’s been roughly, to date, 600 expressions of interest through our website.”