Pocket-sized Ari 902 electric van has 766l cargo space

Ari Motors specializes in manufacturing the smallest commercial vehicles on the market. The cars are specifically designed for inner-city duties. With small dimensions, a tight turning circle, and generous cargo space its tiny delivery vans are helping all kinds of businesses to keep costs down and deliveries on time.

The latest addition to the fleet looks very different from its siblings. While all the other models have cute fascias with big round headlights and grilles pretending to be from Jeep Wrangler, the new van is entirely a different story. Ari 902 looks almost grown up, with its front LED light running across the width of a car and headlights down in the front bumper - you’d think we are looking at Li Auto L7 or Nio EC6 here. Just way, way smaller.

How small is it? It’s nearly 2 meters shorter than the Nio EC6. It’s 1.4 meters shorter than Smart #1 but it is 25 centimeters longer than the Smart EQ fortwo Coupe. Consider this though - Smart EQ has a 260-liter trunk, and Ari 902 comes with 766 liters of cargo capacity while being nearly as small. The 2.95-meter length means it cannot be parked sideways as the Smart cars used to in the old days (before they got bigger) but it can turn on a 2-pence.

All that cargo space doesn’t really translate to payload capacity, though. The Ari 902 can deal with up to 190kg and that’s that. It’s designed more for carrying flowers, pizzas, and small parcels rather than bricks and cement. Its 20hp (15kW) electric motor won’t make the car break any speed records but together with the built-in battery delivered up to 200 km of the range, which probably is its most important detail.

Although the Ari 902 is designed from the ground up as a delivery van, it doesn’t skimp on equipment. There’s a digital instrument display, Bluetooth takes care of hands-free calling and music and it even has a reversing camera. There is an optional air-con and power steering as well. You can even add a traffic sign recognition system and lane-keep assist. The list of additional equipment goes on with roof racks, a glass roof, and a solar panel. Call us impressed.

This tiny city warrior starts at €13,990 for the entry-level model. Going for the top-of-the-range Comfort version puts the price up to €16,190 and with all the options the price nudges the €17,000 with ease. Although it may seem like a lot of money for a little car, it’s the money it saves the owners that makes a huge difference. Being all-electric it qualifies for purchase subsidies, its running costs are much lower and its simplicity means fixing it when things go wrong won’t mean breaking the bank.

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