Nearly three years ago early in 2012, Nissan brought a workman-like attitude to the Chicago Auto Show with the unveiling of the NV200 compact cargo van during media preview days. Nissan and other automakers recognize Chicagoland's blue-collar roots and propensity for practical work vehicles as an ideal launch destination for such transports; Chicago remains a top market for commercial vehicles of all sizes. Mark your calendar as the 2015 Chicago Auto Show opens to the public Saturday, February 14, continuing daily through Sunday, February 22.
The diminutive cargo van segment received a huge boost with the arrival of Ford's Transit Connect in the 2010 model year after a successful European run dating back to 2002.
Think of Transit Connect and NV200 as multi-purpose mix-and-match compact tall-standing wagons designed for light duty assignments, but tweakable for people travel.
Another recently introduced smallish cargo alternative is the Ram C/V, basically a stripped-out Chrysler/Dodge minivan with V-6 power, conventional minivan lift gate and a towing package option.
The NV200 combines a versatile cargo region with superior gas mileage, thanks to the four-cylinder powertrain. It's also designed to fit snuggly in most suburban Chicago garages. The front-wheel-drive NV200, based on a compact car platform (similar to Nissan's Juke and box-style Nissan Cube), offers surprisingly good maneuverability.
The NV200 provided the next logical for Nissan, which in 2009 launched larger-sized, heavy-duty commercial vehicles in the U.S. market including the NV1500, NV2500 and NV3500. As a follow up to the NV200 cargo van in 2012, Nissan showcased a customized green-and-white NV200 Chicago taxi edition at the 2014 February Show; an offshoot designed for hauling clients, not cargo.
The NV200 green Chicago taxi edition followed the debut of the highly successful, bright yellow New York City taxi variant year earlier. As of December 2014, approximately 500 Nissan NV200 taxis are on the job in Gotham. That number is expected to mushroom in 2015 as most of the retiring taxis (a cadre of aging, rear-wheel-drive, beaten down Ford Crown Victorias) in the Big Apple get replaced with NV200 yellow taxis. The 2015 model year NV200 taxi remains virtually identical to the 2014 effort.
While New York streets enjoy an onslaught of yellow NV200 taxis, the City of Chicago has no commitment yet on purchasing the green-and-white version.
The sole powertrain in cargo van and taxi editions, a 2.0 inline four cylinder, cranks out a ho-hum 131 horsepower, less than the four-cylinder Transit Connect. This four-cylinder combines with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), a smooth performing design with an infinite number of forward gear ratios. Nissan's history with the CVT goes back decades. The automaker produces some of the most dependable CVTs available. Built with fuel efficiency in mind, not performance, CVTs provide a smoother, not necessarily faster means of traveling from zero to 60 miles per hour.
Currently, the NV200 taxi edition is only available in the New York City region, but one became available for testing here in the Windy City. The NV200 Taxi edition comes in well-equipped base trim with few options to contemplate. Our bright yellow tester's $29,700 base price ended at $30,560 when factoring the $860 destination charge.
Ginormous headroom awaits front and second-row riders; but tall standing structure does create noticeable interior wind noise when cruising at highway speeds. Second-row passengers need never dance around a ground-level transmission hump with its flat design. The second row includes such creature comforts as dedicated air conditioning controls, plug-in and charging ports to play/juice up portable electronics and enough leg room to kick up one's heels. Also available is an intercom button to order around the driver on the other side of a clear Plexiglas privacy divider, although a hearty shout out works just as well.
Front seats remain workman like with a solid structure, vinyl covering and cloth seat inserts. Comfort remains a step below what most mid-size sedans offer. Both seats include anti-microbial covering. At hip height, these front seats provide easy egress and ingress. Expect 'taxi yellow' stitching framing front and rear seats. The second row includes one long bench seat accommodating three fare-paying travelers.
Manual sliding rear side doors with vertical grab handles incorporate a light-weight feel and slide along bottom tracks with ease. Taxi trims include convenient step boards extending out from under the bottom frame. Both sliding second row doors feature manually-operated horizontally sliding window panes movable with the squeeze of a central butterfly latch. Static windows occupy the cargo region. Second row travelers also enjoy a panoramic roof if conditions permit. To block out the view, simply manually slide the fabric-like black cover.
Large side-view mirrors include concaved inserts in the upper outside corners allowing a dedicated perspective on side blind spots. While mirrors remain oversized, 15-inch tires seem small and out-of-place on such a tall-standing vehicle. The rear cargo bay region, with two side-by-side vertical doors, opens and closes like a side-by-side refrigerator freezer. With a 40/60 split, the larger right-side door must be opened first and closed last before the left door becomes operational. While both doors feature top-side windows, the larger door includes defrosting technology and swiping wiper arm. Although the vehicle stands tall, the low lift over floor allows easy access the plentiful cargo region behind the second-row bench.
Registering 24 miles per gallon city and 26 highway, the NV200 bests Ford's Transit Connect city mileage (with standard 2.5-liter 169 horsepower four-cylinder engine) by four. Regular unleaded fuel fills the 14.5-gallon tank.
Inside a non-complicated, easy-to-navigate interior awaits. Power mirror controls are found between the front buckets next to inline cup holders, hand-operated parking brake and 'intercom' switch. Front power-down window and lock controls adorn the doors. The dashboard, as with the seat cushions remain workman like with a tough, easy-to-clean composite plastic material.
A relatively diminutive color touch screen resides atop the center console with built-in rear camera display and navigation functions. Directly under, three large dials control ventilation functions (direction, fan speed, temperature). Below is the transmission shifter angled at 45 degrees. Downward resides portable electronic device ports.
The three-spoke manual-tilt steering wheel includes cruise control functions at 3 o'clock and secondary audio controls at nine. The flat instrument panel window features a large center analog speedometer flanked on the left by a vertical half-moon tachometer and digital window with orange background glow in the lower right corner including a bar-type fuel gauge, odometer and secondary gear-shift indicator.
Despite the Plexiglas divider, NV200 includes roof-mounted ceiling air bags covering both passenger rows and seat-mounted side air bags for front driver and passenger. Before the next redesign, Nissan should consider adding cross-traffic alert to the in-dash back-up-camera system. The tall NV200 design prevents a decent gander if backing out from tight quarters. In standard NV200 cargo van editions, windowless rear and side doors add to the case of cross traffic alerts.
2014 Nissan NV200Price as tested: $30,560
Engine: 2.0-liter, four cylinder
Horsepower: 131
City/Highway fuel estimates: 24 mpg city/26 mpg highway
Transmission: CVT
Length: 186.3 inches
Wheelbase: 115.2 inches
Overall Height: 73.7 inches
Assembly: Cuernavaca Mexico