Smith Celebrates 90 Years in Electric Vehicle Business

To celebrate nine decades of producing low carbon commercial vehicles, Smith Electric Vehicles has taken one of the largest stands at the Commercial Vehicle Operator Show – some 400sq m – to exhibit its full range of Smith Edison electric vans and minibuses, based on the Ford Transit chassis.

2010 marks the 90th anniversary of Smith Electric Vehicles, which can trace its roots back to Newcastle upon Tyne in 1920.

It is also the third birthday of the Smith Edison electric van. Launched at the CV Show in 2007, in collaboration with Ford of Europe, the Smith Edison has a range of up to 100 miles and a top speed of 50mph. Designed for return-to-base, urban operations, the lithium-ion batteries can now be fast-charged from flat to full in as little as three hours.

Smith supplies the Edison on a range of Transit chassis, including 3.5t and 4.6t medium and high roof panel van; and a 3.5t and 4.6t chassis cab, which can be fitted with a variety of bodies such as box, refrigerated, tipper and dropside. Additionally, Smith produces an electric minibus, with various seat configurations.

Sainsbury’s Online is expanding its EV fleet with an additional 51 Smith Edison vehicles for its online shopping delivery service. This will take Sainsbury’s total to 71 EVs, creating the world’s largest fleet of electric vans. Furthermore, Edison is in use with a wide range of public and private sector fleets, including Royal Mail, TNT, Western Power, Sita, Serco and the Government Car & Despatch Agency.

At the CV Operator Show, the Tyne & Wear-based company will also exhibit a Smith Newton, the world’s largest road-going electric truck. Newton has a range of up to 120 miles on a full charge and a top speed of 50mph. A full battery recharge takes 6-8 hours. Newton is available in GVW configurations of 7.5t, 10t and 12t and is in use with fleets including TNT, DHL, Balfour Beatty and TK Maxx.

Smith is the largest single supplier of EVs into the UK Government’s Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme; this year the company will deliver nearly 60 Smith Edison vans to public sector fleets across Britain, for Phase One of the initiative.

Smith is involved in three extensive R&D programmes to improve electric vans, part-funded by the Technology Strategy Board and is also supplying 10 Edison vans for a major evaluation project funded by the German Government. Smith is also working with Proton Power Systems Plc on the development of a hydrogen fuel cell range extender, which could double the operational range of its Edison van.