A new dawn and a new Daily, as Iveco has again facelifted its heavy-duty large van and chassis cab range. Now the updated model – known as the 2022 model year version – has made its UK public debut at the ITT Hub commercial vehicle show.
Introducing an industry first for this class of van, the new Daily is available with Air-Pro, an active air-suspension for all four wheels, rather than just the rear ones. It also comes with refreshed engines and transmissions for Euro 6E compliance.
Buyers are probably more likely to notice that the Iveco Daily now talks back, thanks to an integrated Amazon Alexa skill with clever integration into the van’s on-board systems.
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Haven’t we been here before?
This isn’t the first refresh for the current Daily. Iveco has undertaken a constant programme of improvements since the present version was introduced in 2014. The Daily name goes back over more than four decades of production, and it remains an industry leader, thanks to a design that takes it up to as much as 7,200kg gross vehicle weight. This is something no rival can match.
In recent years the focus has shifted from no-nonsense durability to improving the comfort and technology, and with the ‘Go Smart’ programme, the New Daily gains a couple of significant features that could offer real benefits for drivers and operators – assuming all the new technology is offered in the UK, of course.
How can you spot the new New Daily?
Iveco also referred to the 2019 facelift of the current Daily, launched in 2014, as the ‘New Daily’, so it’s getting a touch confusing. Fortunately, the latest model receives a fairly distinctive facelift.
A larger, simpler grille in satin chrome updates the external appearance of the Daily, with new LED light signatures and revised bumpers as well. It’s a less fussy look than the current model, but no less imposing.
What else has changed for the Iveco Daily?
The most significant technical upgrade is Air-Pro suspension. This is a real innovation for this class of van, and addresses some of the issues found with the large, high capacity Daily in particular, such as the high loading height.
More than just self-levelling pneumatic suspension, Air-Pro includes continuous damping control for 25% less vibration and up to 30% less lean in cornering, compensating for loads as well as improving safety and fuel efficiency by optimising the vehicle height.
It also allows memorised loading bay heights, accessed from the cabin via a simple scroll-wheel interface and TFT display, increased clearance for poor roads or reduced loading height with a 10 second adjustment time. There are controls in the cargo area as well.
Does the New Daily feature new engines?
Under the bonnet the 2.3-litre and 3.0-litre engines have been revised with new twin-dosing selective catalytic reduction (the same concept that contributes to low real-world NOx from the Volkswagen Transporter). This results in full compliance with Euro 6D Final standards as well as Euro VI E, with low emission performance expected to be maintained for the full life of the vehicle.
If you want an idea of what the full life of the vehicle is anticipated to be, given the number of older Iveco Daily vans still in use outside of LEZ/ULEZ areas, the new six-speed manual gearbox for the 2.3-litre Daily has a hint.
Intended to set new standards for shift precision and comfort, the transmission has been designed to use the same clutch as the 3.0-litre for an 18% increase in lifespan, and requires no oil changes; it’s actually specified for an oil change at 217,000 miles (350,000km).
That same manual gearbox allows up to a 15% increase in torque from the 2.3-litre (116 to 156hp, light and heavy duty) and 3.0-litre (160 to 207hp) engines.
Working together: Iveco’s Driver Pal
Commercial vehicle technology isn’t stagnating, and Iveco’s the latest firm to make fleet management and telematics a more consumer-friendly experience in the form of Driver Pal.
This uses Amazon’s cloud services and Alexa to deliver a distraction-free personal assistant, but goes beyond the usual connected vehicle basics of remote locking, fuel levels and location services to provide a collaborative community along the same lines as Waze’s crowdsource traffic information.
You share the cab with your electronic companion, mounted high up and sporting the traditional blue Echo ring for status and notifications, and for many features – such as weather, news and streaming music – it will function much like the Alexa integration available in a smartphone or Echo Auto.
However, building on Iveco’s existing fleet management systems, Driver Pal includes a new MyIveco skill on Alexa which offers scheduling, route planning, vehicle status updates and natural-language route updates from other My Iveco users via Iveco’s second Alexa skill, MyCommunity.
These updates are multi-lingual, so if a French-speaking driver provides diversion information in Belgium, German drivers will get the instructions in German, and so forth. Currently translation is offered between English, German, French, Italian and Spanish; more will be added.
It’s not just for traffic, as there can be recommendations for good places to stop (and presumably, ones to avoid) and the ability for drivers to leave each other voice messages; consider it a voice-controlled hands-free alternative to CB and you’ve got the idea.
This feature is shared with the S-Way HGV and is also open to non-Iveco drivers with Alexa-enabled cars, so the source of data will be wider-ranging than just New Daily owners.
Finally, the MyIveco skill integrates the driver scoring introduced with the previous generation of Iveco telematics, and now becoming prevalent for fleet CO2 and safety improvements. There’s no chance of winning the lottery with it, but given the tight Amazon integration of Iveco’s new tech it’s entirely possible that incentives and rewards could be offered by fleet managers.
What else is new for the Iveco Daily?
Bolstering, pun intended, the comfort for occupants there are new memory foam seats with improved side support, increased cushion depth and width, plus a newly contoured seat that makes it easier to get in and out (we’ve tried it at a preview event when we carried out our Iveco Daily 4x4 review, and the changes do seem to make a true difference).
The interior has had a light makeover, and of course, this new technology joins the already impressive options of adaptive cruise control and the excellent Hi-Matic eight-speed automatic, which now accounts for 37% of Daily sales.
Pricing for the revised model will be announced later in 2021, and we plan to bring you full driving impressions and an update to our main Iveco Daily review before the end of the year, too.
