It's the closest one gets to an electric work van, for sure, but it's pretty small. It's more comparable to e.g. a Fiat Doblo (sold as the strangely named Dodge Ram ProMaster City in the US).
Next to a proper work van like a VW Transporter or Toyota ProAce, you're looking at less than half the load volume (~4.2 m^3 versus ~9.5m^3).
None of which are cargo vans suitable for business use.
The Mercedes eVito , Nissan NV200, VW Transporter and Crafter, Renault Kangoo etc. are all electric cargo vans specifically targeting commercial use. Admittedly, one problem they all share is that they are big heavy cars built on last gen electric platforms, meaning they have pretty crap range. But they exist and are available on the market today.
I'm surprised Amazon didn't go with Zenith Motors. They've got a good electric cargo van and a barebone chassis/cab. In my area, I've been seeing a dozen of them boppin' down the road (Northern Cali).
I rented an electric VW Transporter recently (think it's the same van as the Mercedes Sprinter), and it really felt like the future. It was just so nice to operate. Smooth, quiet, tons of torque, and will probably beating day after day with little to no servicing. Range wasn't massive, but for your typical daily urban delivery round that doesn't matter so much. It just made so much sense.
I actually almost bought that instead of my current minivan, but the build quality on it wasn't very good and more importantly it's all electric range was tiny (like 30 miles).
I currently drive a 2021 Nissan NV200 Compact Cargovan. It's about as basic of a vehicle you can get. I'm slowly turning it into a miniRV because I like to go camping at times. Works great as a place to sleep when I visit friends and when conventions get back into full swing and I don't want to spend $300+ on a weekend hotel room. Bonus points for the van being actually smaller than my previous 2015 VW Passat when it comes to finding parking spaces. I do miss getting 46mpg, but the van has been averaging 31-33mpg on long interstate trips.
There are some downsides. Like the creepiness factor of owning a panel van as a large bearded guy, but most people warm up to it once I explain things. Also the commercial 7% interest on my financing plan. I'm used to financing around 1-3% interest on any car I've bought new, but at least in my state commercial vehicles carry a locked in interest rate.
Commercial trucks/vans also have shit for sound insulation so be prepared to do that yourself or pay a local stereo shop to quiet things down.
Other than that its hard to even find consumer cars with a manual transmission in my area, let alone a lack of electronic non-sense.
Looks the same size as bin lorries (what other countries might call a refuse truck or a waste collection lorry), and they get around most of London just fine.
Amazon have ordered 100k EVs from Rivian, and it'll be interesting to see what sizes and shapes they turn out.
Completely agree with you RE grift, but there is a realistic niche that converted work vans offer.
Transits, sprinters, e350 etc are all very common/shared platforms and parts are incredibly cheap, well understood. Tire sizes are standard/cheap, and manufacturer warranty for the drivetrain often still applies. Significantly less GVW combined with 87 octane fuel in an economic 6 cylinder is very attractive to people into van life (for some reason).
Also considering GVW, tripping in an RV allows for very little flexability (imagine getting into a campsite in the woods). So you likely need to tow a smaller vehicle, which at that point may require a CDL depending on area.
The real equivalent of a kei truck in the US I think is a minivan. I see a lot of blue collar workers that use an old beater minivan as a work truck basically. Its an easy engine and platform to work on; something like a honda odyssey shares parts with a civic and most anything else they made in the same era. There is a ton of space when you take out the seats, that locks up unlike a truck bed. The floor is a lot lower than a truck bed which makes it easy to load stuff in and out. You get much better gas mileage than most commercial van platforms. They sell for a few thousand dollars in decent shape used and hold their value.
Is that an unusual campervan to you? To me it looks like the most archetypal standard campervan there is. I've seen tons somewhat like it, although this looks like a particularly nice compact model.
Next to a proper work van like a VW Transporter or Toyota ProAce, you're looking at less than half the load volume (~4.2 m^3 versus ~9.5m^3).
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