Electric Powered Minibus in production - 21st April 2010

The UK's first Electric Minibus is currently being produced; the makers of the Electric Van have now turned their attention to producing a Minibus, which will be the UK's first.

The Minibus will be run by battery, which is installed underneath the minibus so as not to take away from the passenger space, is at the centre of the technology which will run the vehicle.

Once complete the manufacturers say the electric minibus will be able to reach top speeds of 50mph, will boast an 80-mile battery range, plus it will take 8 hours to completely recharge the battery.

The Manufacturers also have 12-seater and 15-seater electric minibuses available. The vehicles have very low running costs when compared with petrol-fuelled minibuses; they emit zero emissions, and can be charged fully overnight.

Also lined up is the UK's first fully electric vehicle-mounted aerial work platform. These are widely used in the utility sector to safely lift workers for maintenance at a height.

The 4,600kg GVW vehicle uses the Smith Edison long wheelbase electric van chassis cab, features a lift mechanism from Versalift and is powered by Edison's 40kWh lithium-ion battery pack. It has a range of up to 80miles on a full charge, and has already been purchased by Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) for trials in its service and maintenance fleet.

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