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Home | Green Cars News | Electric | Smith Electric Vehicles Begins Production at Kansas City

Smith Electric Vehicles Begins Production at Kansas City

14 October, 2009 06:57:00

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Smith Electric Vehicles has begun low volume assembly of its Newton electric delivery truck at a temporary facility at Kansas City International Airport.

However, it's not clear whether Kansas City will be able to hold onto Smith Electric should the orders begin in earnest and the company move forward with building a full-scale plant.

Smith Electric signed only a one-year lease last summer on the 80,000-square-foot former aircraft maintenance building, with an initial investment estimated at $5 million.

Smith is also working with Ford on a smaller electric delivery van, the Ford Transit Connect BEV that will be launched next year.

The SEV Newton is the world’s largest plug-in battery-electric delivery truck
with a top speed of 50 mph, a range on one battery charge in excess of
100 miles and a payload of over 16,000 lbs..

Separately, UK’s bus operator Go-Ahead London has taken delivery of its first Smith Edison vans, following a successful month-long trial of the technology.

Go-Ahead London, which already operates six hybrid diesel-electric buses, is to be the first bus company in London to operate electric support vehicles. The Smith Edison is a pure electric version of the Ford Transit van. Its lithium-ion batteries deliver top speed of 50mph, a range of up to 100 miles on a single charge and can be recharged from flat to full in 6-8 hours.

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