The table below is taken from a Bill Kiely report dated May 2021 so it is reasonably up to date in terms of costings which he is currently quoting for an adapted Caravelle:
It doesn't feature in his report but Volkswagen have recently announced that the Caravelle will be replaced in 2022 by the Multivan. Aficionados of the Caravelle will know that it has gone through various similar iterations with the latest being the T6.1 and, with all due respect to the designers and engineers, the reality is that the Caravelle is based on a van and, therefore, is a highly modifiable vehicle.
The new Multivan is a PHEV and, as can be seen from this slightly earlier link is said to have its battery positioned under the floor. I cannot at this stage discover any design drawings but on the basis that it will be built on the same platform as the new Tiguan I think it is fair to assume that the lithium batteries will be positioned in a similar place to those on the Tiguan which has its 13Kwh battery positioned under the rear seats. Being under the floor and so far back leads me to suggest that significant adaptation costs such as the floor lowering (seen above @ £20,000) will no longer be quite so easy (or even possible).
This is no longer a van: it is a highly engineered and complicated vehicle which will be a difficult (if not impossible) conversion. Will that lead to other vehicles (vans) being adopted as the chosen base platform or will older (dare I say it: used!) vehicles be sought as the donor vehicle?
The spec of the Multivan appears impressive: it is slightly larger than the current T6.1 (and an LWB version will also be available) and is said to be more flexible and spacious than ever inside with a completely flat floor. All that suggests to me that out-of-the-box it will be far more convenient than the current configuration is said to be.
As for the price? That remains to be seen but expect something around the £55,000 mark with strong residual values.
