Laika Ecovip Evoluzione: UK prices from £69,400 and what 'possible import duties' means for buyers

Laika has put UK prices on its new Ecovip Evoluzione campervans: £69,400 for the 540 and £71,300 for the 600. That looks like a complete, drive-away number. It nearly is. The figure includes VAT, delivery from Italy, registration and a pre-delivery inspection, but Laika's UK page adds a footnote that possible import duties are not included and will be charged separately, and that the dealer will confirm prices, taxes and duties. On an Italian-built van that duty may well be nil. So the first thing to understand is what that footnote does and does not mean. Below is what the number covers, what it leaves out, and two other questions (which side the steering wheel sits, and how much weight you can actually carry) that matter just as much as the duty question.

What the Ecovip Evoluzione is

The Ecovip Evoluzione is a new 2027 design and specification line of Laika's Ecovip campervan. It was first shown at the Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf, which ran from 28 August to 6 September 2026, and Laika is listed as an exhibitor at the NEC Motorhome and Caravan Show from 13 to 18 October 2026, though nothing yet confirms the Evoluzione will be on the stand. If you want to open the cupboards and lie on the bed before you decide anything, check with Laika or a dealer before you go. UK Erwin Hymer Group dealers such as Travelworld already name the 540 and 600 on their websites.

Both versions are panel van conversions, so they keep the steel body of the donor van rather than a separate habitation box. According to Laika's UK specification, that donor is the Fiat Ducato 35 Light with the 140 hp (103 kW) engine, an 8-speed automatic gearbox as standard, front-wheel drive and Euro 6e emissions. The maximum permitted mass is 3,500 kg on both lengths, which keeps them inside a standard category B car licence, and a post-1997 car licence is fine. The 600 is also offered with an optional 4,250 kg uprate, and that needs C1 entitlement.

The two lengths

• Ecovip Evoluzione 540: 541 cm long, 265 cm tall (275 cm with the optional sleeping roof). Rear bed 196 cm long, tapering from 132 cm to 120 cm wide.
• Ecovip Evoluzione 600: 599 cm long, same height. Rear bed 196 cm long, tapering from 150 cm to 138 cm wide.

Laika's UK spec gives a body width of 205 cm, which is the usual panel-van figure and comfortably narrower than any coachbuilt. The Laika product page also quotes a 225 cm width, so if you are measuring a driveway or a gateway, ask the dealer what each figure includes before you rely on it.

What comes as standard on both

• 2 to 5 berths: 2 in the rear bed, with the optional roof bed adding a 209 x 143 cm sleeping space up top
• 4 travel seats with belts
• 6 kW diesel heater
• 150 Ah lithium leisure battery
• Compressor fridge
• 100 litre fresh water tank and 90 litre waste tank
• Space for two 11 kg gas cylinders
• 18-inch alloy wheels on 235/55 R18C tyres
• 10-year waterproofing guarantee (ask what conditions apply, such as annual habitation checks, before you count on it)

That is a strong standard list for a van conversion. An automatic gearbox, a lithium battery and a diesel heater are frequently extras elsewhere, and having them in the base price makes the headline figure more complete than it might first appear.

What 'OTR including delivery from Italy' covers

Laika's UK page, checked on 6 October 2026, describes the prices as including VAT and on-the-road charges, and it spells out what on-the-road means here: delivery from Italy, registration and PDI. In plain terms:

• VAT: the UK standard rate of 20% is already inside the £69,400 and £71,300. Import VAT is charged on the vehicle cost plus delivery plus any customs duty, so if duty is charged, 20% VAT applies to the duty line too.
• Delivery from Italy: the cost of moving the finished van from Laika's factory in Tuscany to the UK. On a six-metre vehicle that is not a trivial sum, and it is good to see it included rather than appearing as a surprise line.
• Registration: getting the van onto the DVLA system with a UK registration number.
• PDI: the pre-delivery inspection, where the dealer checks the vehicle over, confirms systems work and prepares it for handover.

That is more than many price lists include, and it is the right way round: the big, unavoidable costs are in the number. But 'on the road' is a phrase dealers use with slightly different meanings, so there are three things worth asking before you treat the figure as final.

1. Does 'registration' include the first year's vehicle tax and the number plates, or are those separate?
2. Is the price for the standard specification with no options, and what does the sleeping roof add if you want five berths rather than two?
3. Is 'delivery' to the dealer's forecourt, or to your door?

None of those is a trick. They are simply the gaps that the words leave open, and the answers belong on paper.

What it doesn't cover: import duty

Laika's UK page footnote says possible import duties are not included and will be charged separately, and that the dealer will confirm prices, taxes and duties. The word 'possible' matters. Under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, new motor caravans of EU origin (tariff heading 8703 32 11 00 for this engine size) carry a 0% preferential duty rate with an origin declaration. The 10% third-country rate applies only if the vehicle does not qualify as EU-origin, which an Italian-built Ducato conversion normally does. So the duty on this van may well be nil, and a dealer quoting 0% or 10% is quoting the published tariff.

Whether duty applies to a particular vehicle depends on the origin paperwork, which nobody can check from a price page. The useful advice is procedural rather than numerical:

• Ask the dealer for the total price to drive away, with import duty included, itemised line by line, in writing.
• Make sure one of those lines says 'import duty' with a pound figure beside it, even if that figure is nil, not 'to be confirmed'. If duty is charged, check that the VAT line includes 20% on the duty as well.
• If you are comparing two dealers, compare the duty-included totals, not the page prices. The page prices are the same for everyone; the extras may not be.
• Keep that written quote with your order. If the final invoice differs, you want to be able to show what was agreed.

The price on the page is the start of the conversation, not the end of it. The number you want is the one on a signed quote with every line filled in.

Laika is being upfront that a charge may exist and that it sits outside the listed price. The risk is only for the buyer who reads '£69,400 OTR' and stops reading.

Left-hand drive or right-hand drive? Confirm it

Travelworld's listing gives the Evoluzione 540 and 600 as right-hand drive, and Laika's current UK campervan, the Kosmo on the same Ducato base, is sold new in right-hand drive. So right-hand drive is the UK dealer specification, to be confirmed on your order. Ask the dealer to write the answer to one question on the paperwork: which side is the steering wheel on?

If a left-hand-drive van were ever offered instead, check where the sliding door opens and what it means for resale before you agree.

The weight sums: what a 3,500 kg van can really carry

Whether the 600 is the van for you only needs Laika's own figures. The ones that count are the mass in running order, the maximum permitted mass, and what Laika calls the optional-equipment allowance.

The three numbers, and what they mean

• Mass in running order is the van as Laika builds it in standard form. Laika publishes what it includes: a 75 kg driver, fuel at 90%, fresh water at the 20 litre driving fill and one full 16 kg aluminium gas cylinder.
• Maximum permitted mass is 3,500 kg on both lengths. That is the legal ceiling with everything and everyone on board.
• Optional-equipment allowance is the weight Laika has set aside for factory options. It is 341 kg on the 540 and 193 kg on the 600. Ask the dealer exactly what Laika's optional-equipment allowance assumes.

The catch is the tolerance. Laika quotes the running-order mass as plus or minus 5%, which Laika describes as the legally permissible tolerance: it is a type-approval allowance, not a hand-finishing one. On the 540 that is 2,815 kg nominally, but anywhere from 2,674 kg to 2,956 kg. On the 600 it is 2,957 kg nominally, with a range of 2,809 kg to 3,105 kg.

Running the 600 at the heavy end

Take the 600 and assume it comes off the line at the top of its tolerance. That is 3,105 kg, which is 148 kg heavier than the nominal figure the 193 kg allowance was calculated on. Take 148 kg from 193 kg and the options allowance shrinks to 45 kg. That is roughly a bike rack and an awning, and then the allowance is used up before you have added anything else.

Look at it from the other direction and the picture is the same. At 3,500 kg, a heavy-end 600 has 395 kg left on top of the driver, fuel, 20 litres of water and one gas cylinder already in the running-order figure: passengers, options, the rest of the water, the second gas cylinder, bedding, food, chairs and a bike or two. Three adult passengers at the standard 75 kg each (225 kg), about 80 kg more water to fill the 100 litre fresh tank and one extra gas cylinder (16 to 24 kg) come to roughly 321 to 329 kg, leaving about 55 to 75 kg for luggage, food, bedding, chairs, bikes and any options. So a fully crewed 600 at the heavy end of tolerance is still tight once the luggage goes in. At the nominal 2,957 kg there is 543 kg to play with, and at the light end (2,809 kg) there is 691 kg. The spread between best and worst case is 296 kg, which is the difference between a comfortable family tourer and a van that only works for two people travelling light with the water tank half empty.

The 540 has more room to breathe

Do the same sum on the 540. At the top of its tolerance it weighs 2,956 kg, which is 141 kg over nominal. Its 341 kg allowance drops to 200 kg, which is still a usable amount for options, and from 3,500 kg it keeps 544 kg for people and kit even in the worst case. The shorter van is not just cheaper; it is the one that is more forgiving of how real families pack.

What to do about it

• Ask the dealer for the actual weighed figure of the specific van you are buying, not the brochure nominal. Laika says it weighs every vehicle at the end of the production line and consults the dealer and customer before delivery if the minimum payload is not met.
• Before you add options, add up what they weigh. The sleeping roof, an awning, a bike rack and a second battery all come out of the allowance.
• Once you own it, take it to a public weighbridge loaded the way you actually travel. It costs a few pounds and it ends the guessing.
• If the numbers do not work, say so before you order. Nobody enjoys finding out on a roadside check that the holiday is over 3,500 kg.

540 or 600? The honest comparison

The 600 costs £1,900 more than the 540 on Laika's UK page. For that you get 58 cm of extra length and a noticeably wider rear bed: 150 cm tapering to 138 cm, against 132 cm tapering to 120 cm on the 540. Both are 196 cm long. If two adults are sleeping across the back every night, the 600's bed is the one that feels like a proper double rather than a generous single and a half.

What you give up is 148 kg of options allowance, and the weight sums above show why that matters more on the 600 than the price difference suggests. You also give up some car-park convenience: both vans are longer than a standard UK parking bay (around 4.8 m), but the 540 overhangs by far less, and at 265 cm tall neither will fit under a 2.1 m height barrier anyway.

Everything else is shared: the same engine and automatic gearbox, the same four travel seats, the same tanks, the same heater, battery and fridge, the same optional roof bed. So the real decision is bed width and length against payload and parking. A couple who tour in comfort and carry little will enjoy the 600. A family of four who want five berths, bikes and a full water tank should check the 540's figures first.

Questions to get in writing before you order

1. The total drive-away price for this exact van, including import duty (even if nil), VAT (including VAT on any duty), delivery, registration and PDI, itemised.
2. Whether 'registration' includes the first year's vehicle tax and plates.
3. Confirmation on the order that the van is right-hand drive.
4. Which side the sliding habitation door is on.
5. The weighed mass in running order of the specific vehicle, or the factory certificate.
6. The weight of every option you add, and the remaining allowance after they are fitted.
7. The conditions of the 10-year waterproofing guarantee, including any servicing or habitation-check requirements.
8. The delivery date, and what happens to the price if the van arrives later than quoted.

The bottom line

The Ecovip Evoluzione is a well-specified van conversion at a price that includes more than most: VAT, shipping from Italy, registration and a pre-delivery inspection are all inside £69,400 or £71,300. What is not inside is any import duty, and Laika says so, though on an EU-built van it may well be nil. Get a written total with the duty on its own line, and only then compare it with anything else on your shortlist. Confirm the drive side before you fall for the layout. And run the weight sums on the actual van, because a 600 at the heavy end of its tolerance keeps just 45 kg of its 193 kg options allowance, while a 540 keeps 200 kg. Seeing one in person, at the NEC in October if it is on the stand or at a dealer, will help you decide whether you like it, and the paperwork will show whether it suits how you travel.