London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), the Geely-owned maker of the black cab, will launch a range of vans and MPVs as it drives forward with a major global expansion.
A new platform, dubbed SOA, will form the basis for a line-up of high-tech F-segment models, positioned above the likes of the Citroën ë-Spacetourer and Volkswagen Multivan.
LEVC has boasted of its flexibility. It allows for vehicles of between 4.86m and 5.95m long, with wheelbases between 3.0m and 3.8m – a top-end figure larger than the standard Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van.
That provides sufficient space for four rows of seats, with the fourth row cleverly packaged to fold away into a compartment under the boot floor, keeping the load space flat.
As with its current TX taxi (which won’t be replaced by a model based on the SOA), accessibility is key, so the platform has been designed to have a low frontal step-in height of 386mm. This is 74mm lower than the average European van, according to LEVC, giving significantly easier access for those with less mobility. The boot lip is also 28mm lower, making it less challenging to load heavy items.
Standard air suspension is a key component of this, allowing SOA-based passenger vehicles to squat down by 20mm at the front and 40mm at the rear.
Commercial variants aren’t expected to be as accessible, however, because they will trade multi-link rear suspension for leaf springs.
LEVC has engineered the SOA platform to be as rigid as possible, with torsional stiffness of 41,000Nm/deg – double that of the typical European MPV, the firm claims.
This yields “10% better” ride and refinement than in German luxury SUVs, according to chief architecture designer Kent Bovellan, and reduced interior noise at speed.
The SOA’s batteries and motors are shared with Geely’s SEA platform, which underpins the Smart #1 and Zeekr 001 electric cars.