Car Show

Van

Morris Minor van

1978 Citroën 2CV AK400 van

A modern van, the Nissan Primastar

A van is a vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is generally a rather box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground. It can either be a specially designed vehicle or be based on a saloon/sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs (pick-ups etc). Some vans can be really small, like the van versions of the Mini or can be really large like some Mercedes-Benz vans. Larger vehicles are classified as trucks or lorries.

Word usage and etymology

The word van is a shortened version of the word caravan which originally meant a covered vehicle. In British English, this now has a similar meaning to the U.S. terms travel trailer or recreational vehicle (RV).

The word van has slightly different, but overlapping, meanings in different forms of English. While the word always applies to boxy cargo vans, the most major differences in usage are found between the different English-speaking countries.

United Kingdom and Australia

British English speakers will generally refer to a passenger minivan as a people-carrier or MPV (multi-purpose vehicle), and a larger passenger van as a minibus. British people, mostly older ones, will also sometimes call a pickup truck a van, something Americans would not do. Similarly, in Australia, panel vans, RVs popular among young people in the 1970s, were based on locally-manufactured utes (short for utility, the local name for pickup).

United States

In the United States, a van can also refer to a box-shaped trailer or semi-trailer used to carry goods. In this case there is a differentiation between a dry van, used to carry most goods, and a refrigerated van (a reefer) used for cold goods. A railway car used to carry baggage is also called a van. Occasionally the term van is also used to refer to a minivan. However, minivans are usually distinguished by their smaller size, unibody architecture, and front wheel drive powertrains.

Examples

The standard or full size vans in the United States were originally manufactured by the "big three": Dodge, Ford and General Motors. The frame and drive train are identical or similar to the full-sized pickups made by the each manufacturer but with a snub front, resulting in most of the engine protruding under a console between the front seats, often called a dog house. They have been sold as both cargo and passenger models to the general public and as cutaway van chassis versions for second stage manufacturers to make box vans, ambulances, campers and other vehicles. Second stage manufacturers also modify the original manufacturer's body to create custom vans for the general public. Dodge, now part of Daimler-Chrysler quit making their model in June of 2002 and replaced it with the Dodge Sprinter which may be due to roll-over concerns.

Usage

In urban areas of the United States full-size vans have been used as commuter vans since 1977, when Dodge introduced a van that could transport up to 15 passengers. Commuter vans are used as an alternative to carpooling and other ride sharing arrangements.

Many mobile businesses use a van to carry almost their entire business to various places where they work. For instance, there are those who come to homes or places of business to perform services or to install or repair appliances.

Vans are also used to shuttle people and their luggage between hotels and airports, to transport commuters between parking lots and their places of work, and along established routes as minibuses.

Criticism

Recently, the passenger versions have been criticized for having a tendency to roll over. The van body is taller than the cab and bed of the pickup that uses the same style frame and powertrain resulting in the basic van having a higher center of gravity than a similarly loaded pickup from which it is derived. The seats in the passenger version raise the load, passengers, above the floor, further increasing the center of gravity. The bench seats allow passengers to slide if safety belts are not used (in the United States it is common for only the front seat passengers to use their safety belts) and belted passengers can still lean and shift a large amount. The result is a high center of gravity and a shifting load, particularly in passenger versions. In addition, many of the drivers of passenger vans drive them infrequently. Apart from safety issues, it seems inefficient to have a high cross-sectional area and a high mass when only transporting one to two persons on average. Average heights are for:

• Minivans 70.2 in
• Family sedans 57.3 in
• SUVs 70.7 in

This leads to increased energy demand and thus fuel consumption and more consumption of other resources like steel, brake blocks, oil, etc. Modular vehicle concepts and Low-energy vehicles are in preparation of avoiding those problems.

Alternatives

For business and private in most cases the usage of trailers gives the possibility to transport bulky goods without the need to propel a heavy vehicles all the time. Utility cycling is a more extreme form of transporting goods. Here also trailer are seen. Apart from bicycle couriers, window cleaners are employing bicycles. For craftsmen in cities its also possible to use a transport service i.e. the specialists may arrive via public transport and bulky or heavy material is transported by courier services either from the same company or using courier express or parcel services. Thus parking fees and city tolling may be avoided.

See also

• recreational vehicle
• SUV

Makes of van

Full-size vans

Chevrolet

Chevrolet Beauville
Chevrolet Corvair 95 Greenbriar
Chevrolet Express
Chevrolet G Series G10, G20, G30
Chevrolet Nomad Van
Chevrolet Sport Van

Citroën

Citroën Jumpy
Citroën Jumper/Citroën Relay

Dodge

Dodge A Series A100, A200, A300
Dodge B Series B100, B150, B200, B250, B350
Dodge Coachman
Dodge MB Series MB-250, MB-350
Dodge Sportsman
Dodge Sprinter
Dodge Tradesman
Dodge Ram Van

Fiat

Fiat Scudo
Fiat Ducato

Ford

Ford Econoline E-100, E150, E250, E350, E450
Ford Club Wagon
Ford Transit

GAZ

• Gazelle

GMC

GMC Gypsy
GMC Rally Rally Wagon, Rally STX
GMC Savana
GMC Vandura 1500, 2500, 3500

Mazda

• Mazda Bongo

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
Mercedes-Benz Vario
Mercedes-Benz V-Class

Nissan

Nissan Caravan
Nissan Elgrand
Nissan Interstar
Nissan Primastar
Nissan Silkroad
Nissan Vanette

Opel

Opel Movano
Opel Vivaro

Peugeot

Peugeot Boxer
Peugeot Expert

Plymouth

• Plymouth PB Series PB-100, PB-200, PB-350

Renault

Renault Master
Renault Trafic

Toyota

Toyota Dyna
Toyota Hiace
Toyota Regius Ace
Toyota Toyoace

Volkswagen

Volkswagen Transporter
Volkswagen LT

Mid-size vans

Chevrolet

• Chevrolet Astro

GMC

• GMC Safari

Minivans

British Leyland, United Kingdom
Bedford: Rascal, Midi
DaimlerChrysler: Dodge, United States
FSC, Poland
Iveco
LDV
Nissan, Japan
Saab automobile: Saab 95 (certain markets)
Holden: Combo

Alternative Propulsion

Since light truck are often operated in stop&go mode hybrid electric models are useful:

• Dual-Drive Sprinter - Mercedes Van equipped with hybrid drive systems
• Electric 35-50 q
• Micro-Vett Hybrid Daily

The follwing vehicles may be used in yards or in historic city centres:

• Graf Carello Transporter
• Aixam Mega
• Alke' ATX
• Tasso Domino
• H2 Truck, a small utility vehicle suitable for transport applications at hospitals and airports more...

Home | Up | A-pillar | Bangle-butt | Brougham | Cab forward | Cabrio coach | Coupe | Crew cab | Dune buggy | Fastback | Hackney carriage | Hardtop | Hatchback | Hearse | High Wheeler | Kammback | Landau | Notchback | Panel van | Phaeton body | Retractable hardtop | Roadster | Runabout | Sedan | Shooting-brake | Softtop | Sportwagon | Spyder | Stanhope body | Station wagon | Cabriolet | Convertible | Leisure activity vehicle | Minivan | Pickup truck | T-bucket | T-top | Targa top | Three window coupe | Tonneau | Touring car | Van | Woodie

Car Show, made by MultiMedia | Free content and software

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.