AutoblogGreen

1. This sounds like a fantastic local delivery & services truck.

Posted at 12:40PM on Apr 23rd 2008 by Tim

2. once again, you guys need to see this report:
http://gwiz.myfastforum.org/about1191.html
Plenty of new commercial electric vehicles, trucks and others coming out.

Posted at 12:51PM on Apr 23rd 2008 by kert

3. Let's hope it's a thing of quality and inspires lots of purchases and competitors. Truckers put an awful lot of miles on their vehicles; it'd be a big deal indeed to see conversions, and could potentially pay off big for trucking companies that switch. Assuming that the economics of use works out. Which brings me to my big question: why on earth LiPo?

Posted at 3:11PM on Apr 23rd 2008 by KarenRei

4. Sounds good, but this will need a lot of good operations research and route planning for the buyers of the truck. 100 miles is not that much for a delivery truck in a big city. But i think it could do very well if it's use is well planed. The range-extended version could be nice for companies which can't plan their routes perfectly. All in all trucks like this one are big leap ahead.


@KarenRei LiPo has very good storage capacity. If it is newer liquid-free LiPo-cells (similar to the ones from Evonik or the Fraunhofer institute) they are very safe and have longer life expectancies than normal LiIon-cells.

Posted at 3:37PM on Apr 23rd 2008 by eddy

5. Maybe they could wring a few more miles of range if they dispensed with the 'brick with wheels' aerodynamics.

Posted at 7:50AM on Apr 24th 2008 by Peekoyle

6. Check out this earlier autobloggreen report http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/04/23/video-all-the-smith-electric-vehicles-from-the-cv-show/

Smith Electriuc Vehicles already have several hundred all-electric vans and trucks out there on UK streets and highways - bought by parcel delivery firms such as TNT and DHL, and by UK supermarket chain Sainsburys.

The 100-150 mile range is not a problem for depot-based delivery fleets in urban areas, where stop-start routes are the norm.

Smith is owned by engineering company Tanfield Group, whose shares can be bought on the London stockmarket.

At the UK's big Commercial Vehicles Show last week, Smith did not have the floor to themselves. There were at least half a dozen makers of all-electric highway-capable delivery vehicles. Electric cars may still be a couple of years away from mass production, but in the commercial field EVs are taking off.

Incidentally, though electric vehicles are dearer than their diesel equivalent (roughly four times the price in Zerotruck's case, and twice the diesel price in Smith's case), they are selling to fleet owners who see a reasonable payback in terms of drastically reduced fuel and maintenance costs. In other words they are buying on grounds of economic viability, not just for the green image.

Posted at 10:41AM on Apr 24th 2008 by David Wright