Volkswagen Transporter L1H1 diesel
Volkswagen Transporter T32 Panel Van Commerce SWB 150PS 2.0 TDI 8-Speed Automatic
The Volkswagen Transporter T32 Panel Van Commerce SWB 150PS 2.0 TDI 8-Speed Automatic has a 150PS diesel engine, 34mpg official economy, a 1,351kg payload. List price £36,000 excluding VAT.
Diesel · medium van · L1 H1 · on sale
Dimensions
Price
| List price (excluding VAT) | £36,000[2] |
|---|
Engine and economy
Load
Ownership
| Warranty | 5 Plus Promise standard: 5 years' warranty (earlier of 5 years or 124,000 miles) + 5 years' roadside assistance[1] |
|---|
Volkswagen Transporter L1H1 diesel price changes
No list price change recorded for the Volkswagen Transporter L1H1 diesel since THRIVE first recorded its price on 17 September 2026.
List prices excluding VAT, from the manufacturer's own UK price lists. A date marked "recorded" is the day THRIVE took in a new price list that carried no date of its own.
Compare the Volkswagen Transporter with
- Ford Transit Custom vs Volkswagen Transporter: price, payload, load space and size side by side
THRIVE verdict
Strong payload and unmatched towing make this Transporter a capable workhorse, but fuel economy lags the class.
This Transporter carries 1,351kg, in the highest 10% of medium vans and close to the class ceiling of 1,400kg, while offering 5.8m³ of load space, above the median for the class. With 2,602mm of floor length and 1,392mm between the arches it takes three Euro pallets or an 8x4 sheet flat on the floor, so it suits tradespeople and delivery operators who need to shift bulky or heavy loads regularly.
Towing is where it stands out: 2,800kg braked is the highest figure of 55 medium vans in our database, useful for anyone pulling trailers or plant alongside their daily load. List price at £36,000 sits below the class median of £37,950, so it's competitively positioned on cost before you even weigh the capability on offer.
The compromise is fuel economy: 34mpg puts it in the lowest quarter of diesel medium vans, against a class median of 39.8mpg, so high-mileage users should check whether that matters against the towing and payload advantage. Against rivals, the Ford Transit Custom offers similar payload and volume with better economy at 39.2mpg, while the Toyota Proace undercuts on price with a higher payload of 1,400kg, though neither matches this van's towing capacity.
Best for
- Heavy payload work needing near-top-of-class capacity
- Trailer towing alongside daily van duties
- Pallet or sheet-material delivery
Think twice
- Fuel economy is in the lowest quarter for diesel medium vans
- Check whether a lower-priced rival like the Toyota Proace meets your payload needs instead
Written 8 October 2026 from the verified figures on this page and the rest of the THRIVE database, and checked figure by figure before publishing. How we check
Other Volkswagen Transporter versions
| Version | Fuel | Payload | Range / economy | Price ex VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Transporter L2H1 diesel | Diesel | 1,305 kg | 33.6 mpg | £36,875 |
| Volkswagen Transporter L1H1 Kombi diesel | Diesel | 1,153 kg | 35.8 mpg | £37,080 |
| Volkswagen Transporter L2H1 Kombi diesel | Diesel | 1,131 kg | 35.8 mpg | £37,950 |
| Volkswagen Transporter L1H1 PHEV | Plug-in hybrid | 1,207 kg | 62.8 mpg | £38,155 |
| Volkswagen Transporter L2H1 PHEV | Plug-in hybrid | 1,162 kg | 62.8 mpg | £39,025 |
| Volkswagen e-Transporter L1H1 | Electric | 1,076 kg | 225 miles | £42,260 |
| Volkswagen e-Transporter L2H1 | Electric | 1,156 kg | 223 miles | £43,115 |
| Volkswagen e-Transporter L1H1 Kombi | Electric | 884 kg | 220 miles | £43,635 |
| Volkswagen e-Transporter L2H1 Kombi | Electric | 852 kg | 218 miles | £44,490 |
Every length, roof and fuel side by side, with a configurator, on the Volkswagen Transporter page.
What fits in the load area
| Euro pallets (1,200 x 800mm) | 3, in a single row |
|---|---|
| UK standard pallets (1,200 x 1,000mm) | 2, in a single row |
| 8 x 4 sheets (2,440 x 1,220mm) | Lie flat on the floor, between the wheel arches |
| Pipe, timber or ladders | Up to 2.6m on the floor |
Worked out from the verified floor length 2,602mm, 1,392mm between the wheel arches. At the full Euro pallet count, the payload allows about 450kg per pallet. Counts use the width between the wheel arches for the whole floor, so they never over-count. Door openings are not in our data: check the rear and side door apertures before relying on a count.
Could you go electric?
How this van compares with Volkswagen e-Transporter T32 Panel Van Commerce Plus SWB 136PS 70 kWh Electric 1-Speed Automatic, the same body with the other powertrain, for a typical working day.
Electric could work: check the points below
- Range. 100 miles a day sits comfortably inside a planning range of about 158 miles, so an overnight charge covers the day.
- Payload. The electric version carries 275kg less (1,076kg against 1,351kg).
- Towing. Braked towing: 2,300kg electric, 2,800kg diesel.
- Energy. Charging at a small-business depot costs about 8.9p a mile against 22.1p for diesel: roughly £3,300 a year less at 25,000 miles.
- Price. The electric version lists for £1,260 more after the £5,000 zero emission van and truck grant, which the energy saving covers in about 0.4 years.
When the diesel is the more practical choice
- Loads that use the last 275kg of the diesel's payload.
- Towing more than 2,300kg.
How this is worked out
- Planning range is 70% of the official 225-mile WLTP figure, allowing for winter weather and a full load.
- Energy use 0.311 kWh a mile: the usable battery divided by the official range.
- Diesel 165.48p a litre excluding VAT (DESNZ, week of 2 November 2026); the Volkswagen Transporter T32 Panel Van Commerce SWB 150PS 2.0 TDI 8-Speed Automatic's official 34mpg.
- Electricity: 28.59p/kWh at a small-business depot (DESNZ, excluding VAT), 26.32p at home as the driver pays (Ofgem price cap), 65.83p on public rapid chargers (Zapmap, excluding VAT).
- 250 working days a year. List prices exclude VAT and options; running costs exclude servicing, insurance, tax and residual values.
Indicative only: a guide to whether electric is worth a closer look, not a quote. For whole-fleet costs see fleet charging costs and van break-even.
Electric and diesel compared: L1 H1
| Diesel (this van) | Electric | Plug-in hybrid | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spec | Volkswagen Transporter T32 Panel Van Commerce SWB 150PS 2.0 TDI 8-Speed Automatic | Volkswagen e-Transporter T32 Panel Van Commerce Plus SWB 136PS 70 kWh Electric 1-Speed Automatic | Volkswagen Transporter T32 Panel Van Commerce Plus SWB 232PS 2.5 eHybrid CVT Automatic |
| List price (ex VAT) | £36,000 | £42,260 | £38,155 |
| Payload | 1,351 kg | 1,076 kg | 1,207 kg |
| Load volume | 5.8 m³ | 5.8 m³ | 5.8 m³ |
| Range / economy | 34 mpg | 225 miles | 62.8 mpg |
| Towing (braked) | 2,800 kg | 2,300 kg | 2,300 kg |
Both at a typical fleet specification, from each manufacturer's UK price list; sources are on each van's page. For running costs per mile, see the Fleet Cost Index and van break-even.
Alternatives worth considering
- Direct competitorFord Transit Custom Trend 320 SWB Low Roof Van (L1 H1), 2.0L EcoBlue 110PS 6 Speed Manual FWDA similar-sized medium van from Ford.
- Direct competitorToyota Proace Icon Medium 2.2 D 150 DIN hp Man (6-speed)£3,497 cheaper.
- Electric alternativeFarizon V7E L1 H1 50 kWhElectric, 149 miles official range, £8,000 cheaper, 1.2m³ more load space.
- Direct competitorCitroën Dispatch Panel Van XL Diesel 150hp Manual Enterprise£3,795 cheaper, 57kg less payload.
Chosen from published medium vans in the THRIVE database with a similar load area; reasons compare verified figures only.
Head to head: Volkswagen Transporter vs Ford Transit Custom
The Tuesday briefing
The week's fleet numbers and news, every Tuesday morning. Free.
One email a week. Unsubscribe in a click.
Sources
3 documents: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK - Transporter price list (Issue: 20 July 2026)
- Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK, retrieved 5 October 2026. Supports: load length (at floor), load width (maximum), load width between wheel arches, overall length, overall width (excluding mirrors), official fuel economy, co2 emissions, fuel tank, test cycle, gross vehicle weight, payload, load volume, towing capacity (braked), warranty. Transporter brochure (current 2025-on generation, 3,100/3,500mm wheelbases; PDF modified 21 Jul 2026), p29 "Panel van dimensions"; the brochure covers TDI, eHybrid and e-Transporter and the table does not name electric, so used for diesel only; SWB column; single "load length" not labelled at-floor (the separate "floor length with load-through bulkhead" 3,050 not used). Few-mm rule: brochure 2,602 and model page "Load length SWB: 2,602mm" vs web tech-spec layer 2,622 (T28 SWB 110PS, "Data accurate as of 01/2025") -> majority 2,602
- Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK, retrieved 17 September 2026. Supports: list price (excluding vat).
- Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles UK - Transporter price list (Issue: 20 July 2026), published 20 July 2026, retrieved 17 September 2026. Supports: engine power. PS as printed in the price-list derivative name; the brochure also prints '110 kW (150 PS)'. No conversion.
About these figures
- Specifications verified: 5 October 2026, against the manufacturer documents listed under Sources.
- Latest source added: 5 October 2026, the last time a figure on this page was added or corrected.
- Verdict written: 8 October 2026. It uses only the verified figures here and the THRIVE database; every number in it is checked against those figures, and it is rewritten only when they change.
Specifications vary by trim, engine, battery, length and roof height; these are for the Volkswagen Transporter T32 Panel Van Commerce SWB 150PS 2.0 TDI 8-Speed Automatic as named, a typical fleet specification. Fuel economy is the official WLTP combined figure; real-world economy loaded will be lower. Check the manufacturer's current price list before ordering. If a figure here has changed, tell us on our corrections page.