Peugeot, Citroën and Opel have cleaned up the ranges of their MPVs and vans by removing all heat engines. Like the Rifter, Berlingo and Combo Life, the Traveler, Spacetourer and Zafira Life are now only offered in electric. Why ? Explanations.
Each beginning of the year is conducive to the announcement of new pricing. Surprise reading the brochures of the Peugeot, Citroën and Opel brands: all gasoline and diesel engines on the Berlingo, Rifter, Combo Life have disappeared. A sentence that does not only impact recreational vehicles. Their big Traveler brothers, Spacetourer and Zafira Life, also suffer the same fate.
Why do away with thermal engines (excluding utility vehicles)?
Curious decision that the Stellantis group to do away with these thermal engines on heavy vehicles and with the stature of mover when they represent the bulk of sales (especially diesel). The manufacturers motivated this choice by several factors:
- a more severe ecological penalty * since 1er January 2022 (and even more in 2023)
- the entry into force of weight penalty * for vehicles over 1,800 kg
- and the European CO reduction standard2 (COFFEE)
The latter obliges manufacturers to comply with an average carbon dioxide emissions for the entire range, which is revised downwards every year. With the semiconductor crisis, and the delay in the delivery of certain vehicles, manufacturers have had to resolve to deliver electrified models as a priority and to sacrifice certain engines in the range so as not to damage their annual balance sheet.
TO READ. Malus. Who can escape the CO2 and weight tax?
Toyota continues diesel and gasoline
The Toyota Proace verso, cousin of Peugeot Traveler, Citroën Spacetourer and Opel Zafira Life, retains its thermal engines.
Effect to which Toyota is not subject, although it shares models in common with Stellantis : the Proace City Verso and the Proace Verso. Thanks to its many models offered in hybrid, the Japanese manufacturer has the necessary margin in its calculation to compensate for the high grammages of the Proace Verso. This is not the case with the brands of the Stellantis group. The two Japanese vehicles intended for individuals are therefore still offered in the catalog in their petrol and / or diesel versions. They are also available in a 100% electric version, the only engine now available on Peugeot, Citroën and Opel MPVs and combispaces.
Still, it is far from being the most suitable for the use of these vehicles with a power of only 100 kW (136 hp) and a maximum range – for a Peugeot Traveler for example – of 330 km. This is then the model with the largest battery (75 kWh) … which is also significantly more expensive to purchase! Peugeot’s commercial director, Christophe Prévost, believes “that a purely electric offer makes sense ” (on this segment, editor’s note). Will customers be sensitive to this ecological argument? These models are already not cheap in their basic version, it’s a safe bet that some go their way and turn to the competition … Mercedes in particular.
* large families or people with reduced mobility are not subject to the ecological penalty, nor to the weight penalty.
