New year, new van: the top upcoming van releases 2025

New year, new you… New van? It’s officially 2025, and there’s plenty of upcoming releases set to arrive in the van market. Here’s our top new vans of the year.

2024 was a year of announcements, previews, and reveals, with eyes trained firmly on the future. We saw prototypes aplenty, more zero-emissions alternatives than you can shake a stick at, and manufacturers pivoting across the board in preparation for what’s to come.

Well, enter 2025, and the first results of this planning and scheming are set to land. There’ll be a new generation of van before the year is out. Here are the ones we’ll be looking out for:

Skywell 233

A shiny new van with a mildly complicated naming structure? Consider us intrigued. Nanjing Golden Dragon, currently known as Skywell, part of the Skyworth Group, first showcased its large LCV codenamed the ‘233’ last year.

Featuring a grounded, traditional workhorse silhouette — with the utilitarian capabilities which that brings — combined with a fresh, unique front-end, and a durable yet intricately detailed interior, there’s plenty of potential here.

“In a world of increasingly homogenised EV design, the Skywell van is a pleasant blend of old and new.”

The Chinese brand has remained tight lipped on key details up to this point, but with a full preview scheduled at the Commercial Vehicle Show ahead of its 2025 release, we’ll be keeping an eye on this UK-bound van.

Nissan Interstar

Practical, versatile, and for the first time, packing the option of a 100% electric powertrain: the new Nissan Interstar. But fear not petrol dieselheads, traditional ICE powertrains will still be available upon the large Japanese LCV’s 2025 release.

The chunky, borderline cubic design may not scream ‘aerodynamic’, but following in the footsteps of Renault’s award-winning Master E-Tech, Nissan has managed to reduce drag by 20% when going head-to-head with the previous generation.

Considering the inherent similarities between the Interstar and its trophy-laden Renault cousin, it’s safe to say we’re expecting to be impressed by Nissan’s largest van this year.

Dacia Spring Cargo

Still not quite recovered from the loss of the Fiestavan? 2025 might just have the answer: the Dacia Spring Cargo.

This is the cheapest van (yes, it’s a van) on our list. So cheap in fact, that on release it will be the cheapest compact electric van on the market. Full stop.

Unsurprisingly, the Spring Cargo is also the smallest van on our list. And while this does make for an alluring LEZ navigator, the commercial practicality remains a bit of an unknown. That said, it can carry more than double the amount as Citroën’s divisive Ami Cargo, so we’ll be interested to see where it fits into the market this year.

Vauxhall Movano Hydrogen

Hydrogen vans may not be the novelty they once were, but a large hydrogen van with a price attached? That makes the Vauxhall Movano Hydrogen a tad more unique.

The jury remains out on hydrogen as the solution to the zero-emissions conundrum faced by the LCV market, but Vauxhall seems ready to give the tech a real shot. The Vivaro Hydrogen trials on UK roads were a minor give away to British brand’s intentions, but the full Movano reveal with details including range, carrying capacity, and a 2025 release date still feels like a large step. Even more so considering the comparative mystery surrounding the much-hyped Renault Master H2-Tech.

While we’re keen to see how this situation plays out, the price tag itself has left us questioning whether this sustainability solution will be suitable for the masses… 

Kia PV5

2025 will also welcome the first step of Kia’s PBV masterplan, and the Korean carmaker’s first step into the world of vans: the Kia PV5.

It’s modular. It’s scalable. It’s just about everything which the industry is coming to recognise as the future of vans. And it said ‘HELLO’ to us when we paid it a visit at last year’s Paris Motor Show, so it’s polite too.

The medium-sized van is so sleek and prototype-esque it’s actually quite hard to imagine it operating in the real world, but that is exactly what will happen this year. Beneath the sometimes overly futuristic veneer there are clear signs of utilitarian design, and in a space where gimmicks count for little, we’ll be keeping a keen eye on how the PV5 performs.

Volkswagen Transporter

And finally, after months of teasers and paparazzi style spy pics, the seventh generation of ‘Bulli’ is upon us: the 2025 Volkswagen Transporter.

VW clearly missed any memos about under-promising and over-delivering: boasting ‘more space, payload, towing capacity, efficiency, and even more perfection’ than its forebears. And maybe we’ve bought into the hype, as it made our list of news that shook the motoring world in 2024.

But is it just a rebadged Ford? Will the infamous wet belt issues rear their ugly heads? Or will the controversy surrounding the new Transporter simply fade away this year? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Hero image credit: VW