2026 Farizon SuperVan SWB review

Farizon is yet another new Chinese brand for the Australia market, which is part of the automotive giant Geely. 

You might not have heard of Geely either, but it’s difficult to grasp how big this company is. For a start, Geely owns (or part-owns) Volvo, Zeekr, Polestar, Lotus and Smart, and produces over three million cars each year. 

That’s three times more than Australia’s total new-car market sells. 

Farizon comes to Australia not under the stewardship of Geely directly, but is instead being operated and distributed by a third party known as Jameel Motors.

It’s not the first electric van to land in Australia, but the Farizon SuperVan brings another option to the Australian market to compete with the likes of the LDV eDeliver 7, Ford e-Transit Custom and Peugeot e-Partner.

And while some buyers will be more focussed on electric power, this Farizon SuperVan also competes with broader and more popular diesel-powered options like the Toyota HiAce, Hyundai Staria Load and Volkswagen Transporter.

The SuperVan is roughly the same size as a Toyota HiAce or Ford Transit Custom, but has no fuel-burning option in the range. Here, it’s electric or nothing.

You do get to choose between a short-wheelbase (SWB) or long-wheelbase (LWB) variant of the SuperVan, along with a high-roof option available for the long boy.

All variants of the Farizon SV get the same 83kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, which feeds power to the 170kW/336Nm electric motor for front-wheel drive.

The smallest and cheapest of the three gets the best claimed driving range of 376km (according to WLTP testing), which points to the fact that this electric van isn’t particularly efficient.

It shows how important the role of aerodynamics is in keeping electric cars efficient, which is something that is difficult for a van.

We saw an average consumption figure of 23 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres, which was a range of unladen highway driving and loaded suburban driving. That means you’ve got a fairly safe driving range of around 350km between recharges, which is likely going to be enough for most users. 

In comparison to all of the other electric vans out there, this Farizon SV is amongst the best for driving range, owing mostly to the relatively large 83kWh battery pack.

Although, we saw figures spike up to 25kWh/100km at times. So if you’re heavily laden and working the car particularly hard at higher speeds (with less chance for regenerative braking), that driving range might be reduced.

When it comes to recharging, you’ve got a maximum charging speed of 140kW on a DC charger, which can get you from 20–80 per cent in a claimed 36 minutes.

We saw a maximum of around 130kW in our testing when hooked up to our local brand-agnostic Tesla Supercharger.

That means you could get a big charge back into the van over your one-hour lunch break, but the overnight charge (that can be as fast as seven hours on an 11kW AC charger) is more likely to be the use case.

There are some demonstrator vehicles for sale on Drive Marketplace for those who are keen on a Farizon SV and want a bargain.

There are currently only four Farizon dealers located in each of the biggest cities around Australia. Follow this link to see if there is one close to you.

In terms of pricing, you’re looking at a van that has an asking price of $71,490 plus on-road costs. That makes it a little pricier than the LDV eDeliver 7, as well as the smaller Peugeot E-Partner.

But it undercuts many other electric van options like the Volkswagen I.D Buzz Cargo, Peugeot E-Expert, Mercedes-Benz e-Vito, Ford E-Transit Custom and Volkswagen e-Transporter. It also punches hard on driving range in comparison to the competitive set.

There is 6.95 cubic metres of storage space available here, with the LWB and high-roof models giving you 8.25 and 11.22 cubic metres of space respectively. But the claimed range drops to 355km and 319km respectively for those variants, with the high-roofed version showing how big the impact of worse aerodynamics can be.

The elephant in the room here for the Farizon SuperVan – just like any other electric van – is the fact that you can get in a regular fuel-burning van for a lot cheaper. And there are plenty of options in this case as well, going from the highly popular Toyota HiAce to the sharply priced LDV G10 and Deliver 7 options.

But for whatever reason it might be, buyers will be focussing on electric power instead. 

At least in this case, you do get some nice features for what is a working vehicle. Faux leather materials on the seats are a big change from the regular cloth, and the addition of heating and ventilation is a nice touch (and rarity) for this segment.

There are also automatic LED headlights, a 360-degree camera system, front and rear parking sensors, rain-sensing wipers, a heated steering wheel, single-zone climate control, a 12.3-inch infotainment display and 7.0-inch driver’s cluster.

Keyless entry and push-button start round out an overall list of equipment that is better than what you would expect from a commercially focussed van. 

The 12.3-inch central display in this Farizon is good for a van, and allows this van to feel as modern inside as it looks from the outside. Apple CarPlay is included here, but Android Auto is not. 

There is a bit of funny language stuff to get used to in the infotainment system, which can take some mental gymnastics to make sense of. Clearly, the translation from the native Chinese language hasn’t been done perfectly in some cases. But once you get your bearings, the infotainment system works well enough.

The drop-down shortcut list from the top helps with easy functionality, along with the sidebar.

Driver monitoring and traffic sign recognition are well calibrated, not overly aggressive, or forcing the driver to turn it off. This is the best way to go, and technology that can be helpful and useful with its oversight but not being overbearing.

The Farizon SuperVan doesn't have any crash-testing data to look at, but there is still some information to dig through.

Non-destructive testing of the SuperVan was carried out by Euro NCAP, assessing the performance of the van's active drive assistance and safety equipment. From that point of view, the Farizon SuperVan got a 'Platinum' rating with an 84 per cent score.

All collision avoidance technology was rated as 'good', except for speed assistance technology that was described as 'marginal'.

The driver monitoring system in the Farizon SuperVan looks like it's been pinched directly out of a Zeekr vehicle, and the good news here is that the system is calibrated well enough to not be annoying.

It's easy to live with, and the 360-degree camera system also deserves a shout-out for being high quality.

Other equipment here includes front and rear parking sensors (four apiece in fact), adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning with autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition and overspeed alert, lane-departure warning and lane-change assistance.

Tyre pressure monitoring is there as well, along with rear collision warning, which is nice to have in an urban-focussed van.

In terms of warranty, you've got a five-year and 200,000km warranty offering for the SuperVan, which is good. However, other brands do offer an unlimited-kilometre basis of coverage over the same five years.

The high-voltage battery gets a separate warranty of eight years and 200,000km, and the van comes with five years of complimentary roadside assistance.

Servicing costs are capped at $2730 for the first five years, with each visit to the dealership costing either $400 or $765. Service intervals are every 12 months or 30,000km, which is one benefit for the electric drivetrain covering more kilometres between each visit.

The Toyota HiAce, for example, requires a visit every six months or 10,000km. However, this diesel-powered van caps each service at $260 per visit, so is effectively cheaper than the electric van to service over five years (despite double the visits to the dealership), despite having a more mechanically complex internal-combustion powertrain.

Perhaps the most stifling thing here for Farizon owners, however, is the current restriction of the servicing to the four existing dealerships. Farizon promises a broader range of sites – adding another 15 third-party locations – in the future, but current owners have to stick to the existing small network.

One big surprise about the Farizon van is how noisy it is to drive. The electric motors have a sing-song kind of whine when accelerating and braking, varying its pitch and decibels as your right foot changes position. 

I don’t have tinnitus, but I imagine this is what it might sound like. It’s particularly loud on the highway when the electric motor is spinning faster, and could be annoying for some users to live with day-to-day.

In terms of power, the Farizon is well sorted. Front-wheel-drive vans can have trouble putting power down elegantly sometimes, but that isn’t a problem with the SuperVan. Torque comes on progressively and in a controlled manner, even when you plant the foot at a busy intersection.

And even with a load on board, the van provides enough motivation for the driver. It’s not particularly fast-feeling, nor does it need to be.

Regenerative braking isn’t as progressive and smooth as others, either. It’s on or off, in other words, and can feel tricky to operate smoothly. Other electric vehicles will bring on the regenerative braking more progressively as you lift your foot, instead of waiting for full lift-off in this case.

Otherwise, the SuperVan is quite easy to drive. Blind-spot monitoring and your mirrors get a good workout without having any side glass in the back to look through, and the middle-seat headrest obscures your vision through to the rear a bit. 

The quality 360-degree camera helps in this regard, though, and the van performs well through the steering and ride quality. 

There are a range of driving modes and regenerative braking amounts to choose from as well, which can help the driving experience of the Farizon to suit your own needs.

Ride quality can be a little terse at times, which is exactly what you would expect from an unladen van with a big payload. But once you add a bit of weight into the back (I never got near full payload during my testing), the ride quality smooths out enough to be respectable.

When I was testing out this Farizon van, I drove past a bigger pantech truck that happened to be fully electric. I noticed not only from the huge battery pack being visible underneath, but also because of the massive signwriting on the side that screamed ‘100% electric!'.

For many buyers who are looking at a van like this, it’s not about the outright best choice or most cost-effective. Some simply want electric, and the Farizon SuperVan should be right in their consideration set as a viable option. The driving range is long, the quality of the offering is excellent, and drivers will no doubt appreciate the generous standard kit.

Electric vans can’t really compete yet with traditional diesel power in terms of purchase price, running costs, and the total cost of ownership conversation that is so important to commercial buyers. But there still will be appeal for an electric van for some buyers, especially when you’re not looking to cover hundreds of kilometres each day of operation.

Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures. Off-road writer of the Year, Winner - Sam Purcell

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