Chinese electric van brand Farizon has announced plans to enter the UK market in 2025 with the Farizon SV. Purpose-built as an electric model, the SV spans the medium van and large van segments, and is set to compete with everything from the Ford E-Transit Custom to the Renault Master E-Tech. That last being the 2025 Parkers Van of the Year.
The Farizon SV will be brought to these shores by Jameel Motors, an automotive distribution business that’s also new to the UK – though successful in a number of other global markets.
With SV apparently standing for SuperVan, should the establishment be worried? We’ve had an early briefing and been given the opportunity to ask some questions to try and find out.
Why should I care about the Farizon SV?
This is a ground-up electric van design – something that’s still relatively unusual. But not only that, it also incorporates drive-by-wire technology. Combining these two elements should result in maximised efficiency. As such, Farizon says it’s developed ‘the world’s most advanced eLCV platform’, labelled GXAM.
Farizon also says the SV has been designed and engineered specifically for Europe (although it is also sold in China). And though it looks a bit funny, Farizon claims an impressive 0.29 coefficient of drag – even high-tech modern rivals such as the latest Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (0.32Cd) and Volkswagen Crafter (0.33Cd) can’t match that – helping it to cut through the air more easily.
Meanwhile, the ‘cell-to-pack’ battery design is so well incorporated into the structure that the loading floor is just over half a metre from the ground. This reduces step-in height and increases cargo space by 16% compared with a conventional design.
At the same time, the drive-by-wire system – more commonly found in high-end cars, this reduces the need for a mechanical link between some components – is said to increase driving range by 5%, reduce stopping distance by 10%, and make the van feel more agile thanks to its greater steering response. Energy recuperation is stronger, too.
All told, the various weight-saving measures – including the drive-by-wire as well as the aluminium and steel construction – reduce overall bulk by 8%.
What’s the driving range of the Farizon SV?
The company is staying a little tight-lipped about driving range until it’s been fully tested in the UK – though is adamant that the official figures will ‘under-promise and over-deliver’ rather than the other way round.
Country manager for Farizon UK, Andy Carroll, did tell us that official estimates currently include up to 342 miles of urban driving, however. And he confirmed there will not only be a choice of three sizes of battery pack but also the intriguing promise of varying battery chemistry, too.
Those battery packs will be 67kWh, 83kWh and 106kWh in size (the biggest won’t be available at the initial launch but will follow later), giving buyers the option to balance payload against driving range, as they require.
Even so, it’s the suggestion that differing battery chemistry could be offered for different duty cycles – short-hop/ stop-start operators versus the requirements of longer-distance, for example – that would really be innovative here.
How big and practical is it?
In addition to the low loading floor, the Farizon SV also offers the prospect of a panel van body design that doesn’t require a B-pillar.
This creates a vast side opening between the sliding door and the front passenger door, something no other vanmaker has yet been able to offer in the UK. (There are some left-hand drive vehicles in Europe that have a similar feature.) How useful it will be when a hard bulkhead is also required is another matter, but it’s an interesting detail that may appeal to some trades and converters.
Sizing info we have so far spans the range from the smallest L1H1 version – which is just 1.98m tall – to the largest L3H3 variant. Load capacity starts at 6.9 cubic metres and goes up to 13.0 cubic metres. The first figure is slightly larger than an L2H1 Transit Custom while the latter figure matches the mid-sized Master E-Tech.
All Farizon SV models will have a 3.5-tonne gross vehicle weight, making them available to all drivers without the need to jump through any 4.25-tonne electric van derogation hoops. Given this, the touted 1.1-1.3-tonne payload offering seems reasonably impressive.
All can tow up to 2.0 tonnes.
There is no info about power output or torque (pulling power) for the UK yet, but we do know the SV is front-wheel drive.
What’s the cabin like?
In the manner of many modern vehicles, the instrument cluster is a simple digital screen, with a larger one in the centre of the cabin providing infotainment functions.
A number of physical controls – including for the air-conditioning – have been retained, however. Something we’re very pleased to see as these should make the van easier to operate on the move.
We’ll be able to give more feedback about space and quality once we’ve seen the SV in the metal – which should happen at the launch event in February 2025.
Where does the Farizon brand come from?
Farizon was established in 2016 as the ‘new energy’ commercial vehicle business of Geely Auto. Geely is China’s largest privately owned automotive group, and includes Volvo and LEVC among its other brands.
This is a vast, well-funded and very ambitious company, and Carroll says ‘Farizon is in it for the long-haul.’ It will take some time to get going, of course, but the brand wants to be among the leaders of the UK’s electric van market ‘by the end of the decade.’
Supporting this, distributor Jameel Motors is in the process of setting up a traditional franchise dealer network for the Farizon in the UK, though direct fleet sales and its own flagship dealer site in the London area are also on the cards.
The goal is a ‘national and consistent level of service from day one.’ This will include roadside recovery from an established ‘blue-chip’ third-party and a clear focus on maximum uptime. Over a million miles of testing has been carried out on the SV, including on-road testing in Norway and the UK.
The launch of Farizon is also the launch of Jameel Motors in Britain, which is specifically setting up here to import and sell Farizon models. Jameel has lots of relevant new market entry experience; it currently works with 20 brands across eight countries, and has its own ambitions to expand significantly in Europe.
What will the Farizon SV cost?
We are expecting the first pricing details as well as further technical info at a UK test drive event in February 2025 – ahead of the first vans reaching customers in the second quarter of 2025. So for now we can only speculate. Being an electric van, you will be able to get a discount via the Plug-in Van Grant.
We do already know there will be a four-year / 120,000-mile warranty on the van body, with the electric drivetrain and batteries covered for eight years / 160,000 miles.
Basic specification will include all the relevant Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) now required by European law. Farizon says it has carried out vigorous crash-testing, too, something that missing B-pillar surely makes rather interesting.
More as soon as we have it.
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