2007
A few months later, in February 2007, Prime Minister Tony Blair officially opened the new Smith Electric Vehicles production facility in Washington, Tyne & Wear. He said: “This will be a company that will really make its presence felt not just in the North East, but actually throughout the world.”
In April the same year, Smith Electric Vehicles unveiled the Smith Edison. Based on the Ford Transit, this was the first electric light commercial vehicle to have a GVW of less than 3,500 kg – meeting the “everyman” driving licence requirement of UK fleet operators. First movers to deploy Edison included the retailer Sainsbury’s and utility company Scottish & Southern Energy.
Also in April, TNT N.V. ordered a fleet of 50 Smith Newton trucks, following its successful trial of the first Smith Newton.
Smith was one of several electric commercial vehicle companies invited to the Department for Transport (DfT) in London, for discussions on how the UK Government might help stimulate the market for commercial electric vehicles. This led to the announcement of the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme, in the Government’s Energy White Paper of May 2007.
During the summer, Smith produced its first vehicles for export, which were delivered to TNT.NV in the Netherlands.
In December, the company also showed its Newton truck in North America and announced plans to establish a US production facility.
Read more about this topic: Smith Electric Vehicles, History