Why your next family car should be a van

Look – I get it. You’ve two kids and a busy life. The two-year-old’s buggy takes up a ton of space in the boot, and you need something that won’t embarrass your ten-year-old when you rock up at the school gates. So you do what millions of people across the world have done and you buy yourself an SUV.

But I reckon there’s a better way. SUVs are inherently compromised, and there already exists a kind of car that mixes ultimate practicality with effortless cool factor. I’m talking, of course, about MPVs, vans with seats, whatever you want to call a big box with an engine and wheels attached.

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MPVs had their heyday in the ‘90s and 2000s, beginning in Europe with the original Renault Espace. The USA was a bit ahead of us with the launch of the Dodge Caravan in 1984, and commercial vehicles with lots of seats had existed for decades before. They declined as the SUV grew in popularity, and after a few years virtually no manufacturer still offered a traditional MPV anymore. Even the Espace has morphed into a pseudo-SUV.

But they’re making a little bit of a resurgence, and I couldn’t be happier. New electric models such as the Volkswagen ID Buzz and brilliant Kia PV5 Passenger are leading the way, but even old stalwarts like the Citroen Berlingo are clinging on tenaciously. We’re even due a whole glut of hyper-luxury models at the top end of the market

I’ve had the pleasure of driving several of these vehicles in the last few weeks. I started with the new Kia PV5, and have since driven the Ford Tourneo Courier – a small five-seater based on the Transit Courier van – and its all-electric e-Tourneo sibling. Coming up I have a Mercedes Vito Tourer, a nine-seat version of the Vito van, as well as Volkswagen’s latest plug-in hybrid Multivan. It’s fair to say that I have a type.

Advantages of a van are myriad. First and most importantly of all, there’s the practicality aspect. Put simply, there is no shape more efficient for carrying capacity on the road than a big box. Pushing a car’s silhouette right out to the corners and giving it straight sides means you can use more of the space to carry passengers and luggage.

This pays dividends for interior roominess. The Kia PV5 is a few centimetres shorter than a BMW X3 SUV – yet its five passengers can recline in absolutely palatial surroundings. Legroom and headroom could suit a basketball team, and that’s because without the consideration of ‘style’, the roof line can be completely straight and boxy.

The boot is also vast. An X3 can carry over 500 litres of luggage – a good size – but the Kia has more than 1,300 litres of space. And that’s just underneath the parcel shelf. Load up to the roof and the Kia wins again, because there’s no sloping rear window or slanting seatbacks to panic about. You can fill the entire space. And don’t get me started on how handy sliding doors are, especially as parking spaces seem to shrink around us.

You win on visibility – a van’s upright stance and big, deep windows all round make parking a breeze compared to the letterbox view you get out of many modern SUVs. You even win on comfort, because there’s just that added bit of room to stretch out a cramping arm or leg.

And while the interiors may be a world away from high-tech, hyper-plush family SUVs, in many ways they’re much more sensible. A surface designed for muddy work boots and heavy tools is going to cope with a rogue peanut butter sandwich or errant dog slobber far better than the rich Corinthian leather in your posh SUV.

The cool factor is harder to quantify, but for me there’s always something quite appealing about something that’s absolutely fit for purpose. Anti-style is much cooler than trying hard, right? And while something like a Tourneo Courier isn’t exactly a looker, you can’t argue that the ID Buzz or the Kia PV5 aren’t pretty striking things.

In a world of fake vents, coupe-SUV rooflines and styling gimmicks, vans are unapologetically practical. They’re cars designed around what families actually need – space, comfort and versatility – rather than what looks good in a brochure.

So if you’re considering a new family SUV, take a tip and have a look at what the latest electric vans and MPVs can offer you. You might find it’s rather more than you expect.

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