Of all the electric vehicles we’ve put through our EV Pulse Charging Challenge test, the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter has been the most surprising. No, this battery-powered van didn’t charge the fastest, nor was its peak rate the most impressive. Instead, this commercial vehicle wowed us in a completely unexpected way, plus its real-world range is damn impressive.
eSprinter 101
But first things first. The eSprinter is currently fitted with a lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack that has a usable capacity of 113 kilowatt-hours. In testing that’s supposedly very similar to what the U.S. EPA conducts, this energy reservoir provides a Mercedes-Benz-estimated 206 miles of range when fully charged, more than this van’s primary rival, the E-Transit, which Ford says should deliver 159 miles when fully juiced.
eSprinters fitted with the $3,430 high-output drivetrain can DC fast charge at up to 115 kilowatts, an unimpressive performance for a passenger vehicle, but likely more than enough for a commercial van (models fitted with the standard-output drivetrain have much less performance and only DC fast charge at 50 kW). These sorts of vehicles are much more likely to Level 2 AC charge at a depot every night, so DC charging performance is probably not a mission-critical statistic for most customers, though this Mercedes-Benz still manages to impress.
Speaking of AC charging, the battery can take in power at a rate of 9.6 kW. That’s enough to bring the pack from a 0% state of charge to 100% full in between 12 and 13 hours, perfect for powering up at a depot or similar location.
Testing methodology
With this vehicle’s basic stats out of the way, it’s time for our Charging Challenge, but first, a quick word about how we test vehicles. Jump to the next section if you’re already familiar with our methodology.
Before pulling up to a DC fast charger, we deplete a vehicle’s battery to between 5 and 10% by driving on the highway for at least 30 minutes. This ensures the pack is warm, for optimal charging performance. If pre-conditioning is available, we activate it.
Next, we plug into a DC fast charger that delivers at least as many kilowatts of juice as the vehicle can accept, so the charging hardware is not the limiting factor. We then monitor the progress all the way to 100%, so afterwards we can analyze the full charging curve.
A few additional notes. In normal use, you only want to DC fast charge to about 80%. After that, the charging rate dramatically decreases, meaning the last 20% takes way longer to get, so be aware. DC fast charging is also best used on road trips. If you own an EV, most of the time you’ll want to juice up at home using a slower, but more convenient and economical Level 2 charger. Finally, weather can be a big factor, as batteries don’t absorb energy as quickly in the cold. With this van, the conditions were good – it was sunny with temps in the 90s Fahrenheit.
In addition to a charging evaluation, we also put the eSprinter through a range test, driving it extensively on the highway and then again in the city. This shows how accurate the vehicle’s range estimates really are, and you’ll probably be as shocked by the results as we were.
Charging Challenge results
After depleting the eSprinter’s battery pack to a 4% state of charge (an estimated 7 miles of remaining range) by driving extensively on the highway, we hooked this van to a 350-kW Electrify America charger. Almost immediately, this Mercedes-Benz started absorbing energy at 111 kW, and that rate remained constant – nearly as flat as a mesa in Monument Valley – for almost the entire test, which is something we never expected, nor is it something we’ve ever seen before.
Exactly as promised by the manufacturer, our eSprinter peaked at 115 kW, which was achieved for the first time at the 17-minute mark, though, the vehicle was drawing power at nearly that rate for most of the session. With this van, the peak rate isn’t all that impressive, but nevertheless, it managed to stay astonishingly consistent while charging.
Overall, this electric commercial van needed 1 hour and 11 minutes to completely replenish its battery pack, which is not bad at all, especially considering the peak rate is “just” 115 kW. During that hour and change, this Mercedes-Benz absorbed 113.7-kWh of sweet, succulent electricity. Remember, there are some losses while DC fast charging, hence the reason this vehicle absorbed more energy than the battery’s usable capacity.
As for the all-important 10-to-80% time, this was accomplished in a respectable 43 minutes. Breaking things down, it took the eSprinter 15 minutes to absorb 50 miles of additional range beyond the estimated 7 miles we started with. It took 30 minutes to get 100, and 45 minutes to gain 150 miles of driving range.
Overall, this van’s DC fast charging performance was seriously impressive. Indeed, we’ve never seen another vehicle charge this consistently. The kW rate compared to the battery state of charge is basically flat for the entire session, which is pretty amazing. Just compare this to the E-Transit’s charging curve and you can see the Ford’s is much bumpier.
All told, the eSprinter needed 71 minutes to go from 4% to 100%. Overall, this session cost us a total of $61.15 at a rate of 56 cents per kWh.
Range test results
As for the results of our range tests, this van also did well. For the urban leg of the evaluations, I covered 38 miles on an approximately equal mix of two-lane thoroughfares, dirt roads and downtown streets. This driving, which involved lots of stop-and-go, and never exceeded about 55 mph, consumed an advertised 14% of the battery’s capacity. So, multiplying 0.14 by 113 kWh, the pack’s usable capacity, means we consumed just shy of 16 kWh (15.8). Dividing 38 miles travelled by 15.8 gets us about 2.4 miles per kilowatt-hour, identical to the eSprinter’s digital readout. How’s that for accurate?
Next, multiplying 2.4 by 113 (again, the battery’s usable capacity) shows that this van should be able to drive around 271 miles in city conditions, far more than the average Mercedes-Benz estimate of 206. As always, it’s better to under promise and overdeliver.
When it comes to the highway portion of this evaluation, I covered 142 miles while draining the battery for our Charging Challenge test. This consumed a significant 71% of the pack’s capacity, which equates to a skosh more than 80 kWh. Doing the same math as before reveals that the eSprinter got about 1.8 (1.77) miles of range for each kWh of juice consumed while driving at interstate speeds. Again, the instrument cluster readout was dead nuts, also indicating an estimate of 1.8 miles per kWh.
Once more, that estimate pegs the vehicle’s highway range at around 203 (203.4) miles, just a hair less than the manufacturer’s overall estimate, but even so, this an impressive figure for what is a gigantic box on wheels, one that’s likely less aerodynamic than a jackknifed tractor-trailer.
Overall results
Despite its relatively low peak charging rate, the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter’s performance in our EV Pulse Charging Challenge test proved to be seriously impressive. The kilowatt-hour vs. state-of-charge graph is the smoothest we’ve ever seen, flat and extremely consistent. Even this van’s 10-to-80% time of 43 minutes and overall charging time of 71 minutes were admirable.
When it comes to real-world driving range, there’s little to complain about, either. Whether you’re using this beast of burden primarily on the highway or zipping along in urban areas, the eSprinter offers plenty of miles on a charge.
Pricey but appealing
If you’re a commercial customer in need of an extremely versatile van for delivery work or hauling, the eSprinter is a compelling option. It has appreciably more estimated range than the Ford E-Transit, plus this Mercedes-Benz offers loads luxury amenities. Really, the only downside to this van is the price. The 2024 eSprinter starts at around $78,000, though the example tested here checks out for about 90 grand including a few options and $2,295 in destination fees. The E-Transit, in comparison, is much more affordable, kicking off at roughly $60,000.
