Fiat has revealed its first all-new Doblo van in 12 years, as well as its first electric-powered small van.
The new Doblo is a lightly restyled version of a family of vans first introduced in 2018. Only one is sold here – the Peugeot Partner – though other versions include the Citroen Berlingo, Opel/Vauxhall Combo, and the Toyota ProAce City.
It’ll be built alongside these models at a Stellantis plant in Vigo, Spain.
Don’t expect a return to Australia, however.
“There are currently no plans to re-introduce this model in Australia, however we are constantly evaluating future product offerings to assess local market viability,” said a spokesperson for Fiat Chrysler Australia.
The electric E-Doblo variant uses an electric motor with 100kW of power and 260Nm of torque and a 50kWh battery pack, with a claimed range of over 280km on the stricter WLTP test cycle.
Fiat claims best-in-class charging capacity with DC charging at up to 100kW.
It can reach a top speed of 130km/h, offers a payload of 800kg (down 200kg on ICE models), and can fit up to two euro-pallets.
Fiat is also offering the E-Doblo with a feature called Magic Plug, allowing you to use energy from the battery for specific conversion needs like a cargo fridge.
In the regular Doblo range, there’ll be a choice of two 1.5-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines: one with 75kW of power, mated with a manual transmission, and one with 97kW and a choice of manual or eight-speed automatic transmissions.
Finally, there’s a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol three-cylinder engine with 82kW of power.
Both the Doblo and E-Doblo will be available in two lengths and three different configurations: van, a crew cab van with a sliding bulkhead, and the Combi people mover.
Fiat says comfort was prioritised in the Doblo’s development, with more soundproofing and suspension tuned for ride comfort. It’s unclear, however, just how different the Doblo is under the skin to Stellantis’ other small vans.
The Magic Cargo feature allows you to raise the front passenger seat and use the compartment underneath, expanding cargo volume by 0.5 m3 and allowing you to load objects up to 3.4m long. Maximum cargo volume is 4.4 m3 in long-wheelbase versions.
There’s also a rotating tray table, allowing you to turn the Doblo into a mobile office.
Available features include a digital rear-view mirror, head-up display, hill descent control, and an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while the Combi can be had with a panoramic glass roof called the Magic Top.
An opening rear window is available on the E-Doblo, called the Magic Window.
The range of available active safety and driver assist features includes autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist, driver attention monitoring, and traffic sign recognition.
The electric E-Doblo joins the E-Ducato and E-Scudo in the Fiat Professional electric van range, while its people mover counterpart joins the electric 500 and E-Ulysse people mover.
Fiat says it aims to “go fully electric on every new model in Europe” by 2024, and will sell only electric vehicles on the continent by 2027.
It’s previously said it would go electric-only by 2030, without specifying whether that was solely in Europe or globally.
It’s unclear when we’ll get any of Stellantis’ electric small vans in Australia, where only the BYD T3 and the electric version of the Renault Kangoo compete in the small electric van segment.
A new generation of the latter is due here early next year.
Peugeot Australia said last year it’d introduce its first EVs in 2022, though it subsequently hasn’t released any details on what EVs it plans to launch.
Citroen has never offered the current-generation Berlingo here, with fellow French brand Peugeot picking up the van mantle in Australia.
2022 Peugeot Partner 
Previous-generation Fiat Doblo
Fiat officially discontinued the outgoing, second-generation Doblo early in 2021, leaving the local lineup to consist solely of the pint-sized 500 city car and the full-sized Ducato van. The new electric 500e will join the local range next year.
The writing was arguably on the wall for the Doblo before Fiat axed it. It skipped model years 2019 and 2020, and Fiat sold only 35 examples in 2020.
That figure put it well below rival vans like the Peugeot Partner (190 sales) and Renault Kangoo (458).
The Doblo’s best years were 2015 and 2016, when Fiat sold 133 units. Regardless, the Ducato has proved a stronger seller for the brand locally – it sold 782 in 2020, and 1277 in 2021.
MORE: Everything Fiat Doblo
