TRIED AND TESTED

Farizon V7E Cargo

A good van but ADAS needs further development. John Kendall puts it to the test.

TRIED AND TESTED

Farizon V7E Cargo

A good van but ADAS needs further development. John Kendall puts it to the test.

It is a little over a year since Farizon, part of the Chinese Geely automotive group that owns Volvo Cars and Lotus among other brands, launched the Farizon SV, pitching squarely into the large van sector. The V7E is a derivative of the same vehicle but pared back in terms of equipment and body options to take on the medium van sector. It retains the drive-by-wire system from the SV but is available with a single body size, offering 6.95m3 of load volume and a maximum payload of 1,338kg. The V7E is supplied with sliding side doors to access the load area on each side. Farizon offers three body colours: white, green or blue. Jade White is the standard colour and the other two are optional extras.

Two things are likely to attract buyers’ attention: the price – from £28,000 for the versions with the 50kWh battery and £30,500 for the model with the 67kWh battery –and the warranty terms offering five years’ cover or 125,000 miles, whichever is reached first. In other respects, the V7E is well specified. Standard equipment includes automatic door locking, a smart key and keyless start, parking radar front and rear, anchor points in the load floor, scheduled climate control and charging, a 12.3-inch central screen, Bluetooth connectivity, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, two USB sockets, automatic LED headlights and rain-sensing wipers.

Since the bodyshell is shared with the SV, so is the load compartment, which offers a load floor length of 2,730mm, maximum width of 1,622mm, with 1,251mm between the wheelarches, wide enough to accommodate Europallets. A load volume of 6.95m3 is slightly larger than many rivals, while the loading height of 510mm is low, making loading by hand straightforward. The clear loadspace, 270º opening rear doors and twin side doors should make for easy loading.

The cab offers a reasonable amount of storage space. If you wonder where the cupholders are, they are in the fold-down armrest, which forms part of the backrest of the double passenger seat. There’s a fair amount of storage space with shelves built into the dashboard and a glovebox on the passenger side as well as the expected door pockets. Visibility is good with large door mirrors and a camera to help with rear visibility.

As mentioned earlier, the V7E has the same drive-by-wire system as the SV. The steering wheel is not directly connected to the front wheels and the brake pedal is not directly connected to the brakes at the wheel, it’s all done by computers and servo systems. The plus side of that is that the van can brake in a shorter distance in an emergency than a driver could because it can react faster to the driver’s inputs. It may also be the reason for the sensitivity of the driver-assistance systems. Since the system is computer-controlled, it would not be surprising if it has been programmed to err on the side of safety.

Unfortunately, that translates into an oversensitive lane-keeping assist system and, while it can be turned off, it makes for tiring driving otherwise. The trouble is that if you use the adaptive cruise control, it brings the lane-keeping assist in again and you may choose to use the speed limiter instead to avoid it. Then there are the audible alarms, which can in themselves be a distraction while you try to work out what the latest one is for. The whole systems needs a rethink. It’s hard to see how the van will gain traction in the fleet sector otherwise, because drivers will be put off.

That’s a shame because, as you would expect from a vehicle maker with prestigious brands in its portfolio, the van is otherwise soundly engineered and good to drive.