LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) says it will begin trials with potential customers of its new electric van in London in the second half of next year.
The firm – formerly the London Taxi Company – says it is in discussions with a number of major public sector fleets about joining the trials of prototype vehicles, including the Met Police and London Fire Brigade – both of which want all their new vans to be zero-emissions capable by 2025.
As previously announced, the van will feature the same technology as LEVC’s electric taxi, pairing an electric powertrain with a range-extender petrol engine.
LEVC says the van is not intended for last-mile delivery work, but will instead compete with 1.0t diesel vans on fleets that operate demanding duty cycles, potentially travelling over 100 miles a day.
The firm also says the van will feature semi-autonomous safety systems, and pass its own million-mile TaxiDur test – billed as one of the most stringent vehicle durability testing regimes in the industry.
