Small van payload: what a Caddy, Connect or HiAce can carry
· 8 min read
A VW Caddy Cargo cannot carry a full camper build. Not “it would be tight” — the sum is negative: 34 to 66 kg over the plate before you load water, gear or people. Every guide to small-van conversions is written about space. In this class the binding constraint is mass, and it is the one number the listings never show.
These vans carry plates from 2,220 to 3,500 kg — a range as wide as the class is varied — and the plate, not the length, decides what is possible. Below is every compact and mid-size body in the planner, with the payload it has and the payload it has left once a build and two people are counted.
Gross, payload, and what survives a build
| Body | Gross plate | Payload | Left after a light build | Left after a full build |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VW Caddy Cargo | 2,220–2,300 kg | 674–710 kg | 184 to 216 kg | over the plate |
| Ford Transit Connect | 2,340 kg | 719–748 kg | 226 to 259 kg | −24 to 9 kg |
| Citroën Berlingo Van | 2,400 kg | 852–907 kg | 359 to 418 kg | 109 to 168 kg |
| Renault Trafic (= Vivaro, NV300, Talento) | 2,900–3,020 kg | 1,085–1,194 kg | 590 to 695 kg | 340 to 445 kg |
| Mercedes-Benz Vito (= Metris) | 3,050 kg | 1,100–1,170 kg | 601 to 676 kg | 351 to 426 kg |
| VW Transporter | 3,080 kg | 1,075–1,196 kg | 577 to 702 kg | 327 to 452 kg |
| Ford Transit Custom | 3,100 kg | 1,044–1,137 kg | 546 to 642 kg | 296 to 392 kg |
| Peugeot Expert (= ProAce, Scudo) | 3,100 kg | 1,270–1,356 kg | 772 to 865 kg | 522 to 615 kg |
| Toyota HiAce | 3,300–3,500 kg | 1,060–1,100 kg | 562 to 596 kg | 312 to 346 kg |
Light build = 350 kg: bed, insulation, 40 l water, 100 Ah, a hob. Full build = 600 kg, the reference the large-van posts use. Both subtract the EN 1646-2 two-person reserve (10 kg per metre of vehicle, 10 kg per berth, 75 kg for the second travel seat). Ranges span each body's variants; bodies marked (=) are the same steel under other badges.
Three groups, not one class
The car-derived vans (2,220–2,400 kg gross). Caddy Cargo, Transit Connect and Berlingo. Payload 674 to 907 kg. A light build works; a full one does not. The Berlingo is the pick of the three — 907 kg on the M, which is 233 kg more than a Caddy of the same footprint, and the only one of the three that survives a 600 kg build at all (109 to 168 kg left).
The mid-size vans (2,900–3,100 kg gross). Trafic (= Vivaro, NV300, Talento), Vito, Transporter, Transit Custom and Expert. Payload 1,044 to 1,356 kg and 296 to 615 kg left after a full build. This is where a two-person camper stops being a weight problem and goes back to being a space problem.
The HiAce, on its own. Toyota’s plates are the heaviest here — 3,300 and 3,500 kg — but so is the body, at 2,240 and 2,400 kg kerb. Net payload is 1,060 and 1,100 kg, so it sits between the Transit Custom and the Trafic despite being the longest van in the table at 5.92 m.
The Expert is the payload answer, and it is not obvious
A Peugeot Expert XS is 4.61 m long and carries 1,356 kg. A Toyota HiAce SLWB is 5.92 m long and carries 1,100 kg. The shorter van carries 256 kg more, because Stellantis plates this body at 3,100 kg over a 1,744 kg kerb weight while Toyota puts 2,400 kg of van under a 3,500 kg plate. Length is not payload; plate minus kerb is payload.
The same body wears five badges — Citroën Jumpy/Dispatch, Toyota ProAce, Fiat Scudo and the Vauxhall/Opel Vivaro from 2019 — so the cheapest of those on the used market is the same van. The catch is height: the whole family is 1.40 m inside on every length, with no high-roof option, so nobody stands up in one.
The Vivaro trap
“Vauxhall Vivaro payload” has two right answers, and the year decides which. The 2014–2019 Vivaro is a Renault Trafic: 1,085–1,194 kg on a 2,900–3,020 kg plate, with an optional 1.91 m high roof. The 2019-on Vivaro is a Peugeot Expert: 1,270–1,356 kg on 3,100 kg, and no high roof at all. Buying the wrong year costs you either about 170 kg of payload or your standing height — the twins post lists every badge that changed bodies mid-life.
How to make a light build actually light
The 350 kg column is not a fantasy, but it is a discipline. What gets you there:
- Water is the biggest lever. 40 l instead of 100 l saves 60 kg — more than any material choice you will make. Fill at the tap, not at home.
- No fixed bathroom. A cassette toilet and a shower pod are 40 to 60 kg of fittings plus the grey tank they imply.
- One battery, not three. A 100 Ah LiFePO4 is around 12 kg; the same capacity in lead is three times that. In this class that difference is real.
- Ply thickness. 12 mm furniture ply instead of 18 mm across a small van saves 25 to 40 kg with no loss of stiffness at these spans.
- Count the people. Two adults and a week of food and clothing is 180–200 kg that does not appear on any build spreadsheet. The payload reserve post explains the EN 1646-2 figure the table subtracts.
Weigh the result. A weighbridge ticket costs a few euros and settles the argument that every spreadsheet loses; the payload guide covers what to read off the plate and where to weigh.
FAQ
What is the payload of a Toyota HiAce?
1,060 kg on the LWB and 1,100 kg on the SLWB — 3,300 and 3,500 kg gross against kerb weights of 2,240 and 2,400 kg. After a light camper build and the EN 1646-2 two-person reserve that leaves roughly 562 and 596 kg, which is comfortable. The HiAce carries a heavy plate and a heavy body, so it lands mid-table rather than top.
How much weight can a Ford Transit Connect carry?
719 kg on the L2 and 748 kg on the L1, against a 2,340 kg gross plate. That is enough for a light build — around 226 to 259 kg spare — but not for a full one: a 600 kg conversion plus the two-person reserve leaves between −24 and +9 kg. A Connect camper has to be built deliberately light.
Can you convert a VW Caddy Cargo into a camper?
As a two-berth day van with a light build, yes — 674 to 710 kg of payload leaves roughly 184 to 216 kg after a 350 kg build and the two-person reserve. As a full conversion, no: a 600 kg build puts it 34 to 66 kg over its 2,220–2,300 kg plate before you load water, gear or people. It is the only body in this class where the arithmetic fails outright.
Which small van has the best payload?
The Peugeot Expert family (Citroën Jumpy/Dispatch, Toyota ProAce, Fiat Scudo, Vauxhall/Opel Vivaro from 2019): 1,270 to 1,356 kg, because Stellantis plates a 4.61–5.31 m body at 3,100 kg against a kerb weight of 1,744–1,830 kg. It leaves 522 to 615 kg after a full build — more than a Toyota HiAce that is 60 cm longer.
What payload does a Vauxhall Vivaro have?
It depends on the year, because the badge changed bodies. A 2014–2019 Vivaro is a Renault Trafic: 1,085 to 1,194 kg against a 2,900–3,020 kg plate. A 2019-on Vivaro is a Peugeot Expert: 1,270 to 1,356 kg against 3,100 kg. Same name, about 170 kg apart.
Related: payload calculator · every van in the planner
