Toyota Proace City test drive

Make and model: Toyota Proace City
Description: small panel van, diesel or electric
Price range: £22,412 + VAT (plus options)

Toyota says: “The compact Proace City provides exceptional load space for its class, with a maximum of 4.4m³ on offer and the strength to take payloads of up to 1,000 kg, depending on the powertrain selected.”

We say: A very good small van, regardless of whether you prefer the diesel or the electric version. What should make you consider the Toyota over the near-identical Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroën or Fiat vans is the extendable warranty and roadside assistance offering.

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Introduction

This is the Toyota Proace City, a small van available with either a diesel engine or electric motor. It has been on sale for several years, but received an update in summer 2024.

Toyota has been busily growing its light commercial line-up in Europe over the last few years. As well as the legendary Hilux pick-up and the commercial version of the Corolla estate, the range now extends to small, medium and large van families. But it’s had some help – although the badges say Toyota, all the vans are built by Stellantis, the automotive giant that owns Peugeot, Citroën, Vauxhall, Opel, Fiat and half a dozen other brands.

The Proace City is almost exactly the same van as the Peugeot Partner, Vauxhall/Opel Combo, Citroën Berlingo and Fiat Doblò. All versions of the van are identical apart from badges, some light cosmetic differences around the front bumper and grille, and some minor specification variations.

However, while the electric versions of the Vauxhall, Citroën, Fiat and Peugeot are built here in the UK at Stellantis’ Ellesmere Port factory, all versions of the Toyota Proace City are built in Spain (along with diesel versions of the other brands’ vans).

So the Proace City isn’t exactly bringing anything new or different to the van market. It’s more a question of whether the Toyota brand and dealer network are a better choice for your business than those of Peugeot, Vauxhall, Citroën or Fiat.

Who is this van aimed at?

Small-to-medium vans (under 2.0 tonnes) have seen strong growth so far this year, up 48% to November against an overall market growth of just 4%. Slightly larger vans up to 2.5 tonnes are also performing strongly, up 14% year-to-date.

Toyota, however, has been struggling with sales down 22% so far this year. It is looking to its updated van range, including the Proace City family, to help reverse that trend in 2025.

Given that the van is basically the same as the Stellantis versions, one senses that the goal here is to lure in businesses who currently run the same van with other badges, using the strength of the Toyota brand name and the reputation of its dealer network to win business away from the Stellantis brands.

Who won’t like it?

There are not really any good reasons to dislike the little Toyota van. The only thing you can really say is that if you want the electric version, the Proace City is not built in the UK, while its Vauxhall/Citroën/Fiat/Peugeot cousins are.

Electric vans are inevitably controversial but slowly growing in acceptance. They’re obviously mandated to keep growing thanks to the government mandating minimum sales targets of EVs. For many businesses – those with guaranteed access to charging and an operational radius that falls within the battery range – the Proace City Electric could be an excellent choice. For other companies, however, the electric model won’t enter the equation.

What do you get for your money?

As with most small models, there is a choice of lengths. The L1 version is shorter, being 4.4m long, while the L2 version is 35cm longer, running to 4.75m in total length. This is a combination of an extra 19cm in the wheelbase and an extra 16cm in rear overhang.

In terms of power, you can choose a 1.5-litre diesel in two power outputs (100hp and 130hp) or an electric motor. We’ll discuss these in detail a bit further down; however, not all engine/motor options are available in both lengths and all three trim levels, so you’ll have to study the brochure to make sure you’re getting exactly what you want.

There are three trim levels available in the UK. ‘Active’ is only available in L1 length, with electric power or the 100hp diesel engine. ‘Icon’ offers the same powertrain choices but either L1 or L2 lengths, while ‘Sport’ is only L1, but either electric or the 130hp diesel engine (with either manual or automatic gearbox). This means that if you want a diesel engine with automatic transmission, your only choice is the L1 length in Sport spec.

All versions of the Proace City come with most of the connectivity and safety features you’d expect in a modern working van – most information is conveyed by a pair of ten-inch screens. The driver’s screen replaces traditional analogue gauges, while the central touchscreen connects seamlessly to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto for navigation and phone. Rear parking sensors are also standard on all versions, while Icon and Sport get front parking sensors and a reversing camera as well, plus a digital rear-view mirror (Active gets no rear-view mirror as there are no rear windows).

Active and Icon get 16-inch steel wheels (bare on Active, with plastic covers on Icon) with unpainted black bumpers and other trim bits. Sport gets alloy wheels, plus painted bumpers and trims.

Safety systems include adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance, autonomous emergency braking and the usual complement of airbags. Blind-spot assist is not available on Active but standard on Icon and Sport. The Proace City diesel versions have an official Euro NCAP safety rating of 4 stars from back in 2018, which expires in January 2025 due to age. Euro NCAP has not assessed the EV model, so we can’t advise whether it performs any differently to the diesel models in an emergency situation.

What can you get in it?

The L1 version has a load length of 1.8m, although it can be extended to about 3.1m for long and skinny loads thanks to a through-loading system in the bulkhead. The L2 version has a maximum load length of about 2.2m (and up to 3.4m using the through-loading function).

The through-loading system is called ‘Smart Cargo’ in Toyota-speak, and involves a relatively small fold-down hatch in the bulkhead accompanied by a folding front passenger seat. This allows long and skinny loads to run all the way through into the passenger footwell area, adding more than 1.2m of available length.

The overall cargo volume (ignoring the front footwell area) is about 3.3m³ for the L1 version and 3.9m³ for the L2 version. This is less than Toyota quotes as it includes the Smart Cargo footwell section. This adds another 0.5m³ to each model, but it’s a compromised shape. Load width (1.6m) and height (1.2m) are the same on both versions. It’s also worth noting that the dimensions are the same for both diesel and electric versions.

Payload is where we see significant differences between the diesel and electric versions, as the extra weight of the electric models reduces the payload you can carry. The diesel versions have a maximum payload of 982kg for L1 and 936kg for L2, which are both excellent for this class. However, this reduces to 759kg and 691kg for the electric models – although that’s still better than rival small electric vans from the likes of Renault, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz.

Gross vehicle weight (GVW) for L2 diesel models is 2,400kg, while the electric model in L2 is 3,140kg. That means you can drive any version of the Proace City with a regular car licence.

Both L1 and L2 versions of the van can take two Euro pallets, and you can access the load space through rear barn doors or a sliding door on each side (not every version of the Stellantis models offers sliding doors on both sides).

What’s the Toyota Proace City like inside?

The origins of the Proace City are relatively new, only dating back to 2019. That means that everything feels pretty much state-of-the-art for small vans, with an easy-to-use layout and lots of storage throughout the cabin.

The seats are not particularly comfortable but the position is at least relatively car-like, unlike larger vans. The steering wheel adjusts through a decent range so you should be able to find a good seating position.

Visibility is decent forwards and to each side, but obviously rear and over-the-shoulder visibility are non-existent so you’ll be relying on the mirrors. Active-spec models don’t get a central rear-view mirror (there’s a bulkhead and no rear windows, so there’s no view backwards anyway), although the mounting point (and various safety system cameras) still stretch halfway down the centre of the windscreen, which is annoying. Icon and Sport models get a digital rear-view mirror, which is a screen hooked up to the reversing camera. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it does offer better visibility than the traditional external mirrors in low-light conditions.

There is a two-seat passenger bench alongside the driver’s seat, so you can run three-up. However, it will certainly be cosy if you have three full-sized blokes shoulder-to-shoulder in the cabin. It’s far better as a two-seat cabin, which means you can drop the centre seat to find a work tray or lift it up to find a hidden storage cubby. The Smart Cargo through-loading system folds down the left-hand seat to allow long loads to poke through to the footwell, but you can still run two-up using the middle seat alongside the driver.

The automatic transmission controls are placed high up on the centre console, and it takes a while to get the hang of the switch to go from park to drive/reverse/neutral. Practise that before you get to your first three-point turn on a busy street…

There are plenty of decent storage spots, including a full-width overhead shelf. If you’re buying the EV version, this is a perfect spot to keep your charging cables as there’s no frunk under the bonnet and no dedicated space for them in the cargo bay.

The main disappointment in the cabin is that the cupholders are small, shallow and positioned up on the dashboard in your line of sight, so you won’t be carrying a chunky thermos or large water bottle in them. The door bins are not huge, either, so you’ll just have to shove your drinks somewhere else. For a modern van, this is surprisingly poor.

Even in the base-spec models, the fit and finish are good for this class. There’s also decent sound insulation, even without carpeting on the Active models, so the diesel is quiet without the booming noise you often get in diesel vans. Obviously, the electric model is near-silent anyway.

What’s under the bonnet?

The 1.5-litre diesel engine is offered in a choice of two power outputs – a 100hp/250Nm version with a six-speed manual gearbox, and a 130hp/300Nm version with either the manual gearbox or an eight-speed automatic transmission. However, the 130hp unit is only available in the top-spec Sport versions.

For the Proace City Electric, the electric motor has three settings – Eco, Normal and Power – that alter the available levels of power and torque to suit your needs. Eco provides 60kW (80hp) of power and 180Nm of torque, which is fine for light loads or empty driving. Normal increases this to 80kW (110hp) and 210Nm, while Power gives you 100kW (135hp) and 270Nm, which you’ll want when your load bay is close to maximum payload. As with all EVs, it’s automatic only.

Its official government lab test battery range is 213 miles from its 50kWh battery, but in real-world driving loaded up rather than empty, assume about 150 miles and you should be safe. For a small, urban delivery van, that’s likely to be plenty of range each day as long as you can charge overnight but it will obviously depend on your needs. A heat pump is (disappointingly) optional, which will help keep the cabin warm in winter without placing excessive drain on the battery.

What’s the Toyota Proace City like to drive?

Regardless of whether you prefer diesel or electric power, the Proace City feels relatively car-like thanks to a fairly low driving position and conventional dashboard layout – most larger vans have a driving position more like a bus or truck.

We started with the electric version, on a route of urban roads in the Netherlands at the European launch event – at which we also drove the mid-sized Proace (review coming soon) and large Proace Max models – before retracing the same route in the diesel version.

The Proace City Electric feels like a thoroughly modern small van. It’s super smooth and quiet, with immediate response to throttle input. Its official 0-60mph time looks unimpressive at about 11 seconds, but in the real world it’s more than capable of keeping up the usual cut and thrust of urban driving. In fact, because it’s so silent and there are no gears shifting up and down, it’s easy to lose track of your speed and creep over the limit. Practise makes perfect, however, so you’ll soon get the hang of it.

The EU-mandated speed warning beeps and bongs are annoying, but unfortunately they’re now fitted to pretty much every new vehicle thanks to meddlesome Brussels bureaucrats. You can disable them all from the central touchscreen fairly easily, but you have to do it every time you start the van. Every. Single. Time. The van will beep at you every time the speed limit changes and every time you creep even 1mph over the limit, which is especially annoying as the van’s camera system often missed speed limit signs on our Dutch driving route, so the Proace City would be beeping and flashing angrily at me for doing 49 in what it thought was a 30 zone when it was actually a 50 zone. (Incidentally, the same thing occurred in the near-identical Vauxhall Combo in a week-long review coming shortly).

The diesel version was never going to feel as advanced as the electric model, but it was pleasingly quiet and refined for a diesel van. Interestingly, it felt much easier to regulate your speed within the posted limit thanks to the noise levels and manual gearbox. I guess that’s years of Pavlovian response to fossil-fuel driving…

Although it lacks the immediate response of an electric motor, the 100hp diesel engine is sufficiently sharp for most needs as long as you’re in the right gear. We didn’t drive the 130hp engine, which is officially quite a bit quicker in acceleration but still needs more time to get going than the EV version.

Toyota Proace City Electric – charging

A key aspect of any electric van is how quickly you can charge the battery, to minimise downtime at work. The Proace City Electric is competitive here.

The battery capacity is 50kWh, which gives an official EU/UK government driving range of 213 miles – although in real-world driving with a loaded vehicle, rather than in optimised lab conditions, you can assume it will be closer to 150 miles.

The Proace City Electric can take charging speeds of up to 100kW from a public rapid charger, meaning you can charge it from 10% to 80% (the default measurement for fast charging) in about half an hour. That certainly makes it viable for plenty of businesses, who would have to schedule a lunch break for a full-time driver anyway.

If you’re at a 50kW charging point, which is more common and usually cheaper, you’d be looking at about an hour to do the same charge. A full charge (to 100%) from a wallbox at home or work will take about 4.5 hours.

The charging port is on the left-hand side of the van, behind the sliding door. That means you’re likely to prefer reverse parking into a charging bay, although nose-first should still be workable in most situations.

Warranty, servicing and after-sales

This is the area where Toyota is making a big push to grow its customer base, and it’s here where it offers a decisive difference to the four other brands selling basically the same van.

The standard new vehicle warranty on the Toyota Proace City is three years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first. In addition, the battery on the Proace City Electric is covered for eight years or 100,000 miles. That’s slightly poorer than the Stellantis brands, with Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroën and Fiat all offering three years or 100,000 miles on their vans from new. However, Toyota has one valuable trick up its sleeve…

Once the Toyota new vehicle warranty has expired, you can keep extending it by a year or 10,000 miles at no cost every time you have your van serviced by a Toyota dealer, up to a maximum of ten years or 100,000 miles. Doing so also extends your roadside assistance for an extra year/10,000 miles as well. This annual warranty extension is a unique advantage to Toyota over the other four brands.

Crucially, if you’re buying a used Toyota LCV, it doesn’t matter whether the previous owner kept the servicing current. As long as you take the van to an authorised Toyota service centre, you will still get the extra year/10,000 miles of warranty.

Toyota also guarantees a suitable loan van while yours in in the workshop so you can continue operating, with extended servicing hours available at dealerships. The company is also launching an Express Service offer in early 2025, which will allocate two technicians to your van to turn it around twice as quickly.

Verdict

As we said at the beginning, the Toyota Proace City doesn’t offer any technical advantages over its Stellantis stablemates. There are minor trim differences, but they’re fundamentally all the same vehicle.

Regardless of whether you choose the diesel or electric version, the Proace City is a modern van with all the latest kit you’d expect to get. The electric model is a better van to drive than the diesel version, with the downsides of range and payload limitations that are endemic to any electric van. If you can charge it on-site or at home overnight, you’ll also benefit from substantially lower running costs.

If you’re looking at any of the Proace City models – diesel or electric – and comparing it to the equivalent Vauxhall Combo/Peugeot Partner/Citroën Berlingo/Fiat Doblò, you’re more likely to be swayed by a particular deal or the convenience of your local dealership than the badge on the bonnet – which is entirely reasonable.

What should make you prioritise the Toyota over its siblings is the extendable warranty and roadside assistance offering. If you’re a business owner who plans to keep your van beyond the end of the new vehicle warranty period, this is a valuable point in Toyota’s favour.

Finally, one point worth repeating if you’re considering the Proace City Electric. The Toyota is built in Spain, while the almost-identical Vauxhall Combo Electric, Citroën ë-Berlingo, Peugeot e-Partner and Fiat E-Doblò are built here in the UK.

Similar vehicles

Citroën Berlingo | Fiat Doblò | Ford Transit Courier | Mercedes-Benz Citan | Nissan Townstar | Peugeot Partner | Renault Kangoo | Vauxhall Combo | Volkswagen Caddy

Most of the above vans are also now available with electric power, so if you’re looking at Proace Max Electric, similar vehicles are:

Citroën ë-Berlingo | Fiat E-Doblò | Mercedes-Benz eCitan | Nissan Townstar EV | Peugeot e-Partner | Renault Kangoo E-Tech | Vauxhall Combo Electric

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