UK’s Bevan Group moves into electric vehicles

Bevan Group, the UK's leading commercial vehicle body builders, have signed a landmark partnership agreement with conversion specialist Voltia to assemble the zero-emission Nissan-based vehicle.

Delivery companies in Great Britain and Ireland can now choose a competitively priced, fully electric van which offers up to twice the cargo volume of similarly sized competitors.

The 2.2-tonne Nissan e-NV200 is ideally suited to ‘last mile’ delivery work in towns and cities, an increasing number of which are actively striving to improve public health by introducing clean air zones from which polluting vehicles are banned. 

Voltia’s conversion features walk-in rear doors and offers a load volume of up to 8m3, which is virtually twice that of the standard e-NV200 – a variant with 6m3 cargo area is also available. It has a 580 kg payload capacity. The vehicle’s electric motor produces 80 kW and 254 Nm of torque, and is good for a range of up to 200 km from a single charge.

Voltia developed the conversion in close co-operation with Nissan – customers benefit from the chassis manufacturer’s standard warranty, while Bevan will back the bodywork with its own five-year cover.

A fleet of demonstration vehicles is now available for trial by potential customers, while in January Bevan Group technicians underwent training at Voltia’s headquarters in the Slovakian capital Bratislava.

Production was due to commence at one of its factories in the town of Wednesbury before the end of January, and the company is aiming from launch to complete 10 vehicles each week.

Moreover, Bevan Group will be converting Nissan chassis using imported panels and components supplied by Voltia. Ultimately however, it plans to recruit an EV-dedicated workforce – creating up to 20 new jobs – and cut costs further by manufacturing all of the required parts ‘in-house’.

Anthony Bevan, Bevan Group Managing Director, commented: "This is a hugely exciting opportunity for our business. The Nissan e-NV200 with Voltia conversion is an outstanding product which combines the environmental compatibility of a fully electric, zero-emission drivetrain, with the market-leading productivity of an 8m3 carrying capacity.

"The fact that the driver can stand up in the back of the van also offers obvious benefits in terms of health and safety, while at nearly 125 miles its range comfortably exceeds the requirements of most, if not all, ‘last mile’ delivery specialists.”