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THE world’s leading commercial
electric vehicle manufacturer has secured an order for 100 zero
emission vans and trucks for the Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland.
Smith Electric Vehicles will deliver 100 of its leading edge
Newton and Edison vehicles, in its largest fleet order to date.
Replacing 100 diesel powered commercial vehicles with these
battery powered vans and trucks will save an estimated 760,000kg
in carbon dioxide exhaust emissions each year.
Kevin Harkin, Sales Director for Smith Electric Vehicles, said:
“We chose to establish our first partnership with an independent
distributor in Ireland purely on a commercial basis, because of
the demand we are seeing from Irish-based fleet operators.
“There are tens of thousands of vans and trucks in Ireland that
spend their entire working lives in congested urban areas. This
stop-start environment is when the diesel engine is at its least
efficient and most polluting, making a compelling argument for
replacing these vehicles with our zero emission products.”
Smith Electric Vehicles, based in North East England,
manufactures a range of new technology electric vans and trucks.
The world’s highest specification commercial electric vehicles,
they are capable of 50mph and a range on one battery charge of
up to 150 miles. They are designed for intra-city applications,
such as retail and distribution, post and parcel delivery,
logistics and utilities work.
Launched in early 2007, the Smith Newton is already in fleets
for household names such as Starbucks, DHL and TK Maxx, along
with British institutions like the Royal Mail and retailer Marks
& Spencer. Customers for Edison include Sainsbury’s Online, TNT
Express, Balfour Beatty and A-Plant. As pure electric vehicles,
Edison and Newton benefit from greatly reduced “fuel” and
maintenance costs, adding up to an attractive whole life cost
proposition.
Smith delivered around 250 of its new technology vehicles to
customers in the UK and Europe in 2007 - and has expanded build
capacity to 1,500 vehicles for this year.
The Irish order, destined for private and public sector fleet
operators, will be sold and supported through a new independent
distributor, Smith Electric Vehicles Ireland. The distributor
has already taken delivery of the first vehicles and the rest
will be supplied in a staged build programme during 2008.
The Irish distributor is a partnership between green vehicle
retailer Ray Keeley and commercial vehicle importer David
Mullen.
Ray Keeley said: “I have been working with Kevin Harkin and
Smith Electric Vehicles for over two years now and know that the
potential market for zero emission commercial vehicles in
Ireland and Northern Ireland is huge.
“Typically we see opportunities to replace between 10% and 40%
of a fleet operator’s vehicles – those vans and trucks that work
in relatively low mileage, urban applications.
“We are already in talks with a range of major fleet operators,
from large companies to public sector organisations, and we
expect to fill sales orders for the first 100 vehicles very
quickly.”
The Edison is based on the iconic Ford Transit body shell - but
is one hundred per cent battery powered. It has a 90 kilowatt
motor, providing fast acceleration and a top speed of 50mph.
Leading edge batteries produce a range of up to 120 miles on one
charge. It is the only high performance electric vehicle with a
Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of under 3,500kg – this is crucial as
it means that anyone with a regular driving licence can operate
the vehicle.
The robust Smith Newton is based on the Avia truck chassis and
is the world's largest high performance electric truck, weighing
in with a GVW of between 7,500kg and 12,000kg. The high
performance batteries and a 120 kilowatt motor quickly propel
the vehicle up to its top speed of 50mph. In fact, Newton can
accelerate from 0-30mph faster than the equivalent
diesel-powered truck.
Fully charged, the vehicle has a range of up to 150 miles, while
the regenerative braking system returns power to the batteries
every time the vehicle slows or stops.
David Mullen, Managing Director of Avia Trucks Ireland, said:
“Nobody in Ireland knows the Avia truck better than us, so we
are perfectly placed to provide the after-sales service for the
Smith Newton. We can offer a similar high standard of care for
Edison customers. The purpose-built new showroom and service
facility recently opened by me in Tullamore, Co Offaly will now
also be the headquarters of Smith Electric Vehicles Ireland.
“Electric vehicles are still perceived in some quarters as an
unknown, but in fact these vehicles are a great deal less
complex than the equivalent diesel vans or trucks – there are
only a handful of moving parts in an electric drive train,
compared to over 1,000 in the internal combustion engine.
“We can provide peace of mind to early adopters of this
technology in Ireland and Northern Ireland, so they know expert
advice and support is close by.”
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