Smith Electric Vehicles is to deliver 51 of its Edison electric vehicles to J Sainsbury Plc.
The well-known supermarket group will used the vehicles in Sainsbury’s Online grocery delivery service in London and will make the supermarket giant one of the largest operator of commercial electric vehicles in the UK. The vans will be delivered in the first half of 2010.
Darren Kell, CEO of Smith Electric Vehicles parent company Tanfield, said: “Sainsbury’s is a long-standing customer and one that fully understands the manifold benefits of our zero emission vehicles.
“This order demonstrates how we continue to lead the way in the penetration of the commercial electric vehicle market.”
Sainsbury’s was an early adopter of Tanfield’s commercial electric vehicle technology and has used electric vans in its online shopping delivery fleet since 2006. The supermarket has established a target of utilising electric vans for 20 per cent of all online shopping deliveries.
Neil Sachdev, Sainsbury’s commercial director, said: “We are absolutely committed to using zero emission vehicles where possible as they help keep inner city air clean. Also, the electricity used to power them generates around 50 per cent less CO2 than diesel vans.
“This means that the addition of the new vans will reduce our road transport emissions by around 155 tonnes of CO2 each year.”
The Edison electric van, produced in collaboration with Ford of Europe, utilises a Ford Transit chassis to house Tanfield’s higher function electric vehicle technology. Designed for urban operations, Edison has a restricted top speed of 50mph and a range of up to 100 miles on one battery charge. It has a payload of 1220kg, making it ideal for inner city deliveries.
