Designed to meet the rapidly increasing global demand for green, electrified commercial transport, the new, zero emissions-capable light van will be unveiled today by London Mayor, Sadiq Khan and Joerg Hoffman, CEO of the LEVC.
At the same time the Mayor will also announce a ground-breaking plan for an innovative network of rapid charging hubs for electric vehicles across the capital.
The van is being produced by LEVC who in late 2017 launched the first electric London black cab, now such acclaimed features of the capital’s streets. The van is based on the same architecture as the taxi.
The rapid growth of internet shopping, the Amazonisation of retail has helped fuel a sharp rise in commercial traffic in towns and cities across the country, driving up CO2 and NOX emissions and reducing air quality.
In London alone 65,000 unique journeys are made every day by light commercial vans. It’s the only growing vehicle segment in the capital and diesel vans dominate the market.
The new van will allow ‘distribution to door’ not just last mile, providing the link between out of town depots and city centres. Drivers will be able to collect goods outside of a major city in the van’s range extender mode, before switching to full Electric Vehicle (EV) mode when entering a city. All the UK’s major cities will have followed London’s lead and introduced Clean Air Zones by 2020.
The van has an electric range of 80 miles and a total range of 377 miles, so completely removing range anxiety as an issue.
Manufacturers are coming under increasing pressure to offer clean vehicles and it’s expected that by 2030 in the UK, 40% of vans will be ‘new energy’ (i.e. electrified) and by 2040 all vans.
Joerg Hoffman, LEVC’s CEO said, “Our success with the TX taxi has proven that even London cabbies have become converts to green logistics, with huge benefits in terms of cost savings. We’re now confident we can create Green Van Man not just in the capital but throughout the UK, Europe and beyond.”
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