Great Britain
An electric delivery vehicle of pre WWII vintage.
81 is the phone number not the vehicle fleet number! The design was an adaptable universal type, this one being for delivery of groceries etc. With the doors removed and an open back (roof only) it would become a 'milk float.' Use of this type of vehicle continues to the present day; the design only really began to change from the 1970s on.
Image courtesy of George Glaister.
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Harrods 1939 Electric Van.
'Carrying and Delivery van' Harrods were an early adopter of EVs for local deliveries, this one dates from 1939 and as the photograph clearly shows is still in use. For this type of application the electric vehicle is unsurpassed!
At left pages from the French
electric vehicle periodical, "Le Vehicule Electrique" of March 1937. The St Pancras vehicle at bottom right is of the same type as the Boldon Co-op vehicle in the photograph above it.
Both the vehicles belong to municipal electricity authorities. This was a time when production of electricity and gas was done locally by the local authority or private companies |
one Small step that didn't quite make it.
The Enfield 'E8ooo' Thunderbolt
The Enfield 8000 was a prototype electric vehicle which emerged out of a competition run by the United Kingdom Electricity Council in 1966.
120 cars were built in the UK, of which 65 were used by the Electricity Council and various Electricity Boards in the south of England. There are still some around this video shows one of them. Image quality is poor but it gives a good look at an early attempt at EV development intended for the mass market; production ceased in 1977. |
Powered by an 8 bhp (6 kW) motor and lead-acid batteries, the top speed was around 48 mph (77 km/h), and range of around 40 miles (64 km). It 6had a tubular chassis frame with aluminium body panels. It used suspension parts from the Hillman Imp, doors were adapted from the Mini and the rear axle was derived from the Reliant three-wheeler.
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The Sinclair C5
A small step that lingers on!
A small step that lingers on!
C5 article under construction