Modec finds success greening 'white van man'

Britain’s traditional auto industry may be in terminal decline, but electric vehicle technology looks to have a bright future ahead of it. Coventry start-up Modec has only been producing electric vans since March this year, yet is already filling its order book with customers like Tesco and DHL while also reaching across the Atlantic to US customers through its presence at shows like the 23rd Electrical Vehicle Symposium in California.

Modec is not alone, Tyne & Wear’s Smith Electric Vehicles -- one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electric trucks, vans and lorries -- plans to follow its 1000-vehicle capacity Californian factory with a much larger US facility.

So are these electric vehicles just successors to the milk float or are they serious contenders for replacing diesel transits and trucks? Certainly Modec and Smith Electric Vehicle’s road-going vans are a lot more ambitious than other electric vehicles, such as the Mega Van which has a maximum speed of only 30mph. But they also have to compete with low-emission hybrid vehicles and future vehicles using fuel cells. The clear upside to electric vans is that they can simply be plugged into the existing electricity grid. Hybrid vehicles still have emissions, while fuel cell vehicles require a completely different delivery system to supply hydrogen to the cells.

The Modec van range starts at £25,000 with the battery pack leased directly from the company. The battery can be charged overnight and gives the van a 100-mile range, capacity for loads of up to two tonnes and a maximum speed of 50mph.

Modec estimates that running costs are around 40 pence per mile, inclusive of all related costs. It looks a lot like a traditional parcel van and has been given the thumbs up on performance by industry mags like WhatVan? Electric motors deliver peak torque at low speeds, which means that it can go from 0-30 in 11 seconds.

Modec has sold 170 vans to some of the UK’s largest commercial fleets. Tesco uses 15 electric vans for home deliveries out of its environmentally friendly store in Shrewsbury and various locations around London. Smith Electric’s customers in the UK include DHL, Starbucks, the Royal Mail, TK Maxx and CEVA Logistics and it is on course to ship 250 vehicles by the end of 2007. Other companies committed to slashing their dependence on diesel include Sainsbury’s, which earlier this year announced that it would convert a fifth of its home delivery fleet to electric vehicles by 2008.

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