30.10.2009

Tanfield electric vehicles on the up

Tanfield’s US joint venture SEV US Corp, has started production at its Kansas City plant with an order book of 255 trucks and agreed to a development project with AM General for the US Postal Service, while ending its joint development project with Ford.

South Bend, Indiana based AM General builds military and commercial vehicles, and has agreed to build a prototype electric version of its Long Life Vehicle for the United States Postal Service which currently runs a fleet of around 178,000 units.

Under the agreement, AM General will manufacture the chassis, while SEV will supply the electric drive train, including the motor, battery pack, electronics and ancillary systems.

In light of the swift growth in demand for the production ready Smith Newton truck, SEV and Ford have agreed to terminate their joint development project for an electric van based on Transit Connect.

SEV says that in the short to medium term, forecast volumes did not justify the investment requirement and limited the working capital available to support the growth of the Newton and that investing in the existing Smith platforms represents a better use of its financial resources and gain “market traction” more quickly.

It also adds that it was concerned that the market for electric car-derived vans would become increasingly competitive. However Ford still intends to launch its own electric version of the Connect.

In the UK Tanfield is now confirmed as the largest supplier to Phase One of the Government's Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme, supplying a total of 57 Smith Edison vans in the first phase.