TNT orders up another hundred electric trucks

The electric truck industry in the UK appears to be going into overdrive! Modec continues to land new accounts with their uniquely-engineered vehicle while over at Smith EV, they are celebrating a purchase order from their client, TNT, for 100 of their 7.5 ton Newton lorry (pictured above). The sale marks a significant continuation of their corporate relationship as the express delivery giant had already placed an order for 50 vehicles last year. This additional complement to their EV fleet will replace an equal number of diesel vehicles and is expected to reduce the company's emissions by 1.3 million kg of CO₂, not to mention the elimination of all the other nasties that come out of a diesel truck's tailpipe. Though these "clean lorries" only make up a small part of TNT's total fleet of 45,000 vehicles, it is a strong start in a positive direction.

The Newtons on order are powered by four large sodium nickel chloride batteries that can be charged from empty to full in eight hours, can reach speeds of 50 mph and have a range of 100 miles. That is more than adequate for the urban areas in which they will operate. The cost per mile for the electricity is expected to run around 7 pence. One other environmental feature of note are the recyclable, ultralight body panels manufactured by Omnia. These reduce the body weight as well as increase the payload capacity to 2,000kg . Hit the "read" link below to go to the detail replete announcement by TNT.