Vehicle

Electric Vehicle (EV)

Cenntro Metro EV Truck

A review of the Cenntro light commercial electric truck, UK import model

I bought this light drop-side EV truck this Spring. There are a very few in the UK, mostly in fleets, I hear. I get the feeling that I was one of the first private buyers to get one. I may be wrong of course.

The basic truck is described by the chinese manufacturers at

http://www.cenntroauto.com/vehicles/metro/

and they sell them into the US and EU as the Metro. The local importers have re-named it as the X-Cell, but it's still registered as a Metro by DVLA. I don't think there can be any confusion with the Metro car anyway. The importers are long-established dealers in fork-lifts and other types of EV site vehicles so they have a network of agents about the UK. I already had my local man out twice to see mine, so I'm not expecting a maintenance problem.

Their sales brochure is at

https://www.epowertrucks.co.uk/PDF/XCell%20Brochure%20Range.pdf

Basic description

This is a very light box-steel chassis with the side panels and cab in thin plastic. It can do 50mph max and has a range of about 70 miles. It has a flat-bed carrier 1.3m wide and 1.1m long and is rated for 500kg load. I'm sure it can take more though. It charges from the 240v mains and comes with a 5m cable ending in a 16-amp 3-pin "commando" plug as used for caravans. Using a 16-A rated supply it wil re-charge in 3-4 hours, so overnight. It will switch itself off when full.

Construction layout

It has two sets of three cells for the main battery of nominal 72 volt potential, they read 97v after charge and drop to about 80v on full power when nearly empty. There is a 12v auxiliary battery too. One set of cells is under the tail and one in the centre. The motor is slung between the rear wheels which it drives through universal joints set in swinging arms. The power input is through a type-2 7-pin plug so it is able to lock and switch the charging point for safety, but you need to buy a different cable to use that facility, type-2 male to female.

The carrier is bolted on the chassis by six coach bolts and the side panels are on six screws. You have no access to the mechanism underneath and anyway there are dangerous high-voltage cables in there. It has 4-wheel disk brakes but no servo to assist. The turning circle is tiny, 4m across. Steering UK-right-hand, through two universal joints and feels unlike a normal rack in a car, much lighter but less smooth. The small control panel in the cab shows km/hr only, not mph. Only the offside door key-locks but you get two battery-fobs as standard equipment. There is an in-car "entertainment" tablet providing FM radio, BT-Call, or aux-video input. You can't switch this off. To mute radio you select another input. There are two switches to run : the key and a single 3-way knob for drive-neutral-reverse. Reverse puts the rear-parking camera on the tablet screen. To run, turn the key, wait 5 seconds for the tablet to boot, just like a computer. The air-con unit shows current cab temperature and you must choose to heat or cool. You control screen de-mist by closing the cab vents and increasing the fan speed. It has two basic stalk-mounted mirrors.

My reactions.

It took me over two months after delivery before I could use this. The UK Association of British Insurers (ABI) closed ranks and refused to cover this because it's imported, commercial, and unusual. Eventually I found non-ABI cover with the National Farmers Union but it nearly tripled my annual insurance cost!

Coming from a normal steel car with a front engine, my first drive was a shock! With no weight over the front wheels, at my first speed-hump I got it airborne and came down with a spine-shattering crash. It skittered and hopped over every pot-hole and drain cover, so everything on the dashboard and in my tool-box got fired in the air and re-distributed. Then I had to adjust to pressing firmly on the brake pedal to stop. On the motorway the noise was tremendous, easily drowning the radio. You can see the road through the holes in the floor, which is a flat panel from door to door. All of the cab panels are thin and flat and none have any padding to deaden the vibrations.

I have changed my expectations since then and I'm getting used to it. It's a last-mile delivery vehicle, not a comfortable van. It's costing me less than 2-pence a mile to run and the load-space is perfect for my needs. Anyway, there's no competitive pick-up on the UK market. It cost a lot : In Germany the Metro is the same number of euros as I paid in pounds, a UK premium which I expect will reduce as more arrive. Mine was one of three in a monthly shipment, so not a flooding market. But it still cost me less than the cheapest EV car on sale here.

I am finding it useful, hauling 2400 x 1200 sheets with the last foot hanging over the tail-gate, or 3.6m ladders propped over the cab roof-bar. I'm thinking of getting some old carpet and underlay around the cab and I've screwed some shower-tidys on the cab back wall. It'll do for several years, there's not much to go wrong with an EV, they say (the service mechanic had his fingers crossed, I think).

Grumbles.

I first called out the service-man because the ride was so stiff I though the shock-adsorbers were locked for transit. Seems the hard ride is normal. I have learnt to ride all slopes square-on otherwise one rear drive-wheel will unstick and spin, so I now carry a chock-plank for when it gets stuck. I burn rubber often at junctions where there is a change in camber.

Build standard is not high-quality but adequate, so far. I've lost a side-flap hinge-pin, probably a sheared split-pin, but I'll put an 8mm bolt and nylock in place instead. FM reception on the tablet is as bad as my previopus car which had lost its aerial, so I suspect this doesn't have one connected : not that I care much. Most annying is the tablet's clock that gains 8 minutes a day so is unusable. Clearly a reject tablet then.

A major problem is refusal to go for no reason. Like a computer, you switch off and on again, usually only to neutral but I have had to turn the key off twice. This is embarrassing at a T-junction or lights.

One last quibble : why is the cab so high? makes it look strange. I'm almost 6ft and I have a foot hesdroom. Do the Chinese think all europeans look like 7-ft Swedes? However the narrow wheel-track is very useful in country lanes and over-parked city streets.

Would I recommend it? Compared to what?? It does the job for what I need, so no regrets - so far, two months in use.