Mercedes-Benz on Monday announced that its upcoming electric van concept will be called the Vision V.
We’re still far away from the debut of this concept, which is expected to be revealed later this spring, but Mercedes has already teased that the Vision V will preview its Van.EA modular architecture for future electric vans.
The first vans based on this architecture are scheduled to enter production in 2026, and Mercedes confirmed last October that prototypes were out testing. The automaker aims to offer these vans in a number of configurations, including a U.S.-bound electric luxury van and a potential RV, alongside basic passenger and cargo vans.
Unlike the current Mercedes-Benz eSprinter, which houses an electric powertrain in a fairly standard van shell, Van.EA was designed from the start to accommodate EVs—with high levels of modularity. Mercedes has said the platform is split into three main blocks, with front and rear blocks that can each house electric motors for single-motor or dual-motor configurations. Van.EA models are expected to be front-wheel drive in single-motor form.
Mercedes previously indicated that all of future vans would be based on the Van.EA architecture, but last month it reversed course, announcing a “second variant of the architecture” called Van.CA for internal-combustion models.
Van.CA and Van.EA models will share 70% of parts, and will be built on the same assembly lines, Mercedes said at the time. So while the balance of power may have shifted to EVs, with the combustion-engine architecture now derived from the electric architecture, instead of the other way around, it appears Mercedes is planning for more tailpipes than previously thought.
