A-Plant Introduces Edison Van into its Delivery Fleet

23 November 2007

The A-Plant Edison.

UK Equipment rental company A-Plant is introducing an Edison electric van (earlier post) for trials in its rental equipment delivery fleet in London.

The Edison, designed and built by Smith Electric Vehicles, is based on the Ford Transit body shell. The electric A-Plant model has a 90 kW motor, providing fast acceleration and a top speed of 50 mph, with two Zebra Z5 Sodium Nickel Chloride battery packs (278V, 76 Ah each) providing a range of up to 100 miles on one charge.

Designed for intra-city applications, the Smith Edison is the only high performance commercial electric vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Weight of under 3,500 kg—allowing anyone with a regular UK driving licence can get behind the wheel. A-Plant is the first company in its sector to deploy an all-electric van with these high specifications.

A-Plant is dedicated to examining every opportunity to reduce its carbon footprint. Electric vehicles such as the Smith Edison have the potential to significantly lower the environmental impact of our equipment deliveries and collections, while also providing a benefit to our bottom line.

—Shaun Winstanley, Director of Transport for A-Plant

As a pure electric vehicle, Edison qualifies for free Road Fund Licence and exemption from the London Congestion Charge, plus lower fuel and maintenance costs.

A-Plant has a network of over 200 locations across England, Scotland and Wales, with outlets in every major town and city, offering a national service.

In 2007, Smith launched a range of new technology battery-powered vehicles, with greatly improved speed and range capabilities; the Smith Newton (7.5t - 12t truck); and Smith Edison, a sub-3.5t van. High profile customers include A-Plant, the Royal Mail, Sainsbury’s Online, Starbucks, Marks & Spencer, The Co-operative Group, TNT Express and Balfour Beatty.

Smith Electric Vehicles is investing an initial US$30 million to launch its range of battery-powered commercial vehicles in the United States. (Earlier post.)