B-On has outlined its plans to come to the UK, having revealed the the Pelkan electric van model at the CES show in Las Vegas, with plans to attend the CV Show in Birmingham later in 2024.
The vehicle it will be bringing to the UK is its new Pelkan panel van, although it has already stated that there are plans to bring a second vehicle later on. Although the company is a relatively new firm, having only launched in its current form in 2020, the B-On name might be familiar as it has appeared on other vehicles such as those used by Deutsche Post.
The company was at the tech show as it also plans to head to the US. The UK is a major market for it, though, with first vehicles set to go on sale in 2025. It has ambitious plans, too, with goals to sell as many as 2,000 vehicles in the first full year of sales.
New Pelkan part of UK plans
B-On used CES to show off the first of its new models, the mid-sized Pelkan, which will be coming to the UK at the start of 2025.
It will be sold as a panel van and with the proprietary back that was attached to the CES show vehicle. This turns the vehicle into a box van but with a rotating smart dispenser that can present the correct parcels through a side hatch when the driver stops to make a delivery.
The main Pelkan model range will consist of a panel van in a single length and height with an internal capacity of just under 8.0 cubic metres. There will be a choice of two different batteries, though – a 43kWh or a 54kWh version.
They will offer a range of 150 and 185 miles respectively, while both come with a hefty payload. The smaller battery model will carry up to 1,350kg, while the 54kWh model will still manage 1,245kg, which is an impressive amount of strength for a medium van with a 3.2-tonne gross vehicle weight.
B-On’s UK head of sales, Simon Coulton said that the vehicle’s strength and connectivity will be its selling points. ‘We have a number of USPs – the payload and it is a smart, connected vehicle. It is not just a van, it comes with telematics, cloud-based computing, they can get fleet management and integration with their existing telematics.’
Hang on, wasn’t B-On bringing other models to the UK
This is where it gets a little complicated. It all starts with the Streetscooter company, which was founded in 2010 and made an electric van that was then used by DHL. DHL then bought Streetscooter, and then sold it on to Luxembourg company B-On in 2022.
The company B-On then filed for insolvency in September 2023, but new owners came along and bought it. The Streetscooter wasn’t part of this, though, and this has been bought by a company run by Streetscooter’s original founder, Guenther Schuh. Got it?
As a result, B-On is best seen as an all-new company, with the Pelkan as its only vehicle, for now. There is no longer any plan to bring the Giga or the Max to the UK, as it no longer makes either of these vans.
How much will the B-On vans cost and when can I buy one?
The vans will be imported to the UK by International Motors – the same company that is behind the importing of brands such as Subaru and Isuzu.
This means you will be able to go to one of around 30 dealers when it is fully on sale. There is no precise pricing for the Pelkan yet, but UK head of sales Simon Coulton said that the company is aiming for a price starting at around £33,000 for the 54kWh version when it arrives in 2025.
