The first high-performance electric delivery vehicle in the UK light commercial vehicle market hit the streets of Sheffield this week.
e-Mercury has a top speed of 50mph, can travel 100 miles before it needs refuelling and can carry up to two tonnes. It creates zero emissions and is virtually silent, for which it is has been made exempt from congestion charges and road tax.
The powertrains from Azure Dynamics used to run e-Mercury lead to cheaper costs than equivalent re-fuelling with diesel and should, the company claims, save its drivers at least £1,000 each year. e-Mercury has fewer running parts than a diesel vehicle, so the maintenance cost is also lower.
The vehicle was developed by LTI Vehicles – the company behind the London Taxi hackney cab – and Sheffield City Council is the first local authority to have taken the vehicles on trial.
Energy Saving Trust’s TransportEnergy New Vehicle Technology Fund supplied LTI with £634,611 to cover the costs of three demonstration projects – developing two electric and one hybrid vehicle technology systems.
The head of TransportEnergy, Richard Tarboton, said: “The New Vehicle Technology Fund exists to support the development and demonstration of new cleaner alternative vehicle technologies that will lead the way in improving the quality of our urban environments and reducing the human impact on global climate change.”
