According to Smith, its fleet customers save an estimated 70% annually on fuel and maintenance during the life of the vehicle.

Smith Electric Vehicles announced this week that it has produced over 700 of its electric Edison and Newton trucks, which have cumulatively logged over five million miles on the road, saving around 700,000 gallons of fuel, and eliminating nearly 10,000 tons of greenhouse gases.

Smith, which has manufacturing facilities in Kansas City, Missouri, and Newcastle, UK, has identified short-haul urban transport as a $40-billion market opportunity. Medium-duty gas and diesel trucks are expensive to operate and are one of the biggest contributors to urban pollution. These vehicles typically travel on fixed routes of fewer than 100 miles per day, and are based in a centralized depot, making them ideal for electrification.

According to Smith, its fleet customers save an estimated 70% annually on fuel and maintenance during the life of the vehicle.

“We do not think in terms of the truck; we think in terms of full end-to-end fleet transformation and all its associated benefits. This delivers substantial economic and commercial benefits for our customers and helps drive the growing demand for our product,” commented Smith CEO Bryan Hansel. “With these important milestones achieved, Smith will be positioned to move fully into commercial scale manufacturing and enable electric fleet transformations around the world. Most importantly, we have first mover advantage in a vast global market for full fleet transformation.”

Read our full profile of Smith in the JAN/FEB 2013 issue of Charged.

Source: Smith Electric Vehicles