Vic Young Becomes First UK Dealership to Launch Suite of Electric Vehicles for Commercial Use

North East motor dealer Vic Young Conversions has created a range of fully-electric vehicles suitable for commercial use including an electric Box Van, electric Wheelchair Access Taxi and an electric Drop-side Tipper– all converted from regular Nissan e-NV200s.

Electric Box Van

The South Shields firm claims it is the first such conversion to appear in the UK and says it is pioneering conversions of electric light vehicles to meet the demand from urban businesses and traders created by the UK government-backed zero carbon agenda. The e-NV200 box van offers a 575kg payload, low level entry and an 8.5m³ load volume, an increase from the 3.9m³ of the standard e-NV200. The vehicle, which is priced from £34,000, excluding VAT is available with options such as a choice of rear closures, twin-sided roller shutters and internal racking applications. The whole suite of Nissan electric vehicles have a range of up to 187 miles and come with a five-year/100,000-mile warranty for design and manufacturer defects, as well as an 8 year / 100,000 mile warranty on the 40kWh battery.

Electric Wheelchair Access Taxi

The company says the zero-emission wheelchair access taxi has undergone “rigorous testing” and has already been approved by Nottingham and Dundee city councils with London Hackney approval in process. The vehicle is a specialised energy absorbing conversion which can drastically reduce whiplash injuries and is fitted with full cushion airbags to both passenger and river. The vehicle can sit up to 4 passengers and a wheelchair passenger and can sit up to 6 passengers without a wheelchair passenger.

The e-NV200 wheelchair access taxi price is yet to be set, but will be in the region of £44,000, subject to pending grant approval. This will bring relief to London taxi drivers considering the 100% electric option as the recently introduced first 100% Hackney approved electric Dynamo taxi is approximately £10,000 dearer.

Charging times

Rapid chargers in public locations such as supermarkets and service stations will charge the electric vehicles from 20% battery to 100% in approximately 45-60 minutes. An installed ‘fast home charger of 7kW’ will charge the vehicle to 100% battery in 7.5 hours. It can also be charged via a typical 3-pin mains plug in 11-18 hours. Averagely, the cost per electric car mile is 4.78p.

Good to know: In London, a typical lightweight commercial van would amount to £100 a day in clean air zone charge and an additional £11.50 a day congestion charge. Multiply that by 5 days a week / 52 weeks a year and the annual costs for a single vehicle are staggering. The potential savings of driving an electric car are enormous.

• £0 company car tax (benefit in kind) from April 2020
• £0 congestion charges
• £0 fuel costs
• 8 year / 100k battery warranty

Electric Drop-side Tipper

An electric Drop-side Tipper has also been completed and is already available for sale – with the first prototype having gone through rigorous approvals.

Vic Young, managing director of the family-owned business, said: “This is an incredible achievement for us and I could not be more pleased with the team who brought these vehicles to fruition.”

“We always look ahead with our conversion projects so that we can transform the market in new, exciting ways and I think the all-electric e-NV200 box van and wheelchair access taxi is evidence of this. I firmly believe the market is ready to go all-electric with vehicles for trade and industry.”

Vic Young Conversions has Conformity of Production accreditation from the Vehicle Certification Agency as well as European Whole Vehicle Type Approval for its conversion products.

The fully electric MG car

For organisations who require cars as well as commercial vehicles, the Vic Young fleet team can provide almost any electric car on the market. Powered by a 44.5kWh, water-cooled lithium-ion battery, the all new MG ZS EV has picked up a lot of interest as it is the best priced electric SUV car on the UK market. It can comfortably sit 5 people, has a fantastic sized boot and has a range of up to 163 miles on a single charge. From April 2020 this vehicle will be exempt from company car tax and congestion charges, which combined with the ever increasing cost in fuel will literally save businesses thousands of pounds. The ZS EV packs some great features including sat nav, rear parking sensors / camera, 17” diamond cut alloys, panoramic opening sky roof (Exclusive model only), as well as being equipped with three levels of regenerative braking, which extends your driving range, improves the braking efficiency and energy conservation. What’s amazing is this car is several thousand pounds cheaper than its key competitors the Nissan Leaf & Hyundai Ionic, as well as being bigger too. Available from only £273+ VAT per month, this car is going to charge ahead in the electric vehicle market.

Website: https://www.vicyoung.co.uk