Moving a life and a half in the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter

As luck would have it, I got scheduled into a weekend with the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter exactly when I needed it.

The third wettest Spring on record in Southeastern Wisconsin flooded my mom’s basement. Prior to moving from a condo to a house three years ago, I stashed a lot of my own clutter downstairs at her place to streamline my life, and three years before the death of my niece’s father had already stockpiled other possessions down there. 

The flooding meant the time had come to move all that crap out to clear room for contractors to work.

I took possession of the eSprinter with a 99% charge on the battery and an indicated 199 miles of estimated range. An official range hasn’t been released, but the 2024 eSprinter has 273 miles of range on the more lenient European WLTP cycle.

I must admit to having a little range anxiety. I figured the roundtrip would be about 140 miles, and I didn’t want to risk running out of charge mid-trip. Turns out I didn’t have to worry. My mom’s house is 42 miles away to the north and west, while my niece’s house is a little more than 14 miles away to the south and east, which would account for about 112 miles for the day. That left a lot of wiggle room between the actual efficiency and the eSprinter’s real-world range, which appears to be at least 200 miles.

My tester was the same as all 2024s: a high-roof model with the 170-inch wheelbase and larger 113-kwh (usable) battery (the 2025 eSprinter also offers a short roof, a shorter 144-inch wheelbase, and a smaller 81-kwh battery). The tester also had the more-powerful 201-hp motor that spins up the same 295 lb-ft of torque as the 151-hp base version.

As a big empty box with a very generous 488.1 cubic feet of cargo volume, the eSprinter arrived with a 48x48x28-inch wooden box mounted in the middle of its cargo floor, as well as a pair of spare tires mounted in front of it. The box contained 440 pounds of weight that combined with the spare tires to help settle the ride when empty the same way pickup owners use sand bags in an unladen bed. That big box of nothing was going to rob me of possibly vital space to move a life and a half.

Well, it wasn’t exactly a full life and half. It was more like the leftovers of two lives, the stuff that you want to keep but don’t need regular access to. The box provided a natural divider between my model cars, magazines, and automotive books and his guitars, amps, and survivalist gear. With everything loaded, there was still plenty of room left over.

The load didn’t have a noticeable effect on the eSprinter’s range or limited power. The 83.9-mile trip to mom’s and back, half loaded and half not, used 48% of the range, and the trip computer indicated I had between 85 and 98 miles of range remaining, depending on driving style and climate control usage. With the A/C running and most of those miles on the freeway at 70 mph to the top speed of 75 mph, I understand why it slightly underperformed its expected range.

The van had no problem keeping up with traffic in the city or getting up to freeway speeds. However, laden or not, highway passing proved a challenge. This powertrain is tuned to work as needed in the real world and offer little beyond that.

Another 28.7 miles to my niece’s and back, again mostly on the freeway, took the trip total to 112.6 miles and left the eSprinter with 73-85 miles of estimated remaining range and the battery with 37% of remaining charge. All told, the van averaged 1.7 miles per kwh for the trip, which seems perfectly reasonable given it amounts to a big beast cutting through the wind like a brick wouldn’t.

After I recharged the van overnight on my Level 2 home charger the trip computer indicated 192 miles of range with a 100% charge. The system obviously learns how the van is being driven and adjusts its range estimate based on the most recent miles. A lighter load and slower speeds would certainly increase the range estimate.

The 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter strikes me as a smart choice for fleet buyers. Priced at $77,611 with $3,430 for the larger motor, it’s about $16,000 more than a gasoline model. It has enough range for a full day on the job and its electric power will make it much cheaper to operate, though it will take quite some time and many miles to up for that price premium. It will be a lot cleaner to use, too.

It’s especially helpful when one is offered to you just when mom needs your crap moved out of her basement.

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2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
Base price: $74,181, including $2,295 destination
Price as tested: $77,611
Powertrain: 201-hp motor, 113-kwh battery, rear-wheel drive
EPA efficiency: Estimated 200-220 miles of range
The hits: Just enough power, lots of cargo room, efficient for a fleet
The misses: Power ends where the speed limit ends, big and cumbersome, much pricier than gas version