CITY, ST – Smith Electric Vehicles has announced a new pure electric truck for North America that will go into production later this year. Smith is collaborating with Ford on the future development of commercial electric vehicles for Europe and North America.

In the USA, Ford will supply Smith with a range of its Ford F-Series commercial vehicles as the chassis for Smith's US-specific vehicles. The first of these vehicles is the Faraday mark II, built using the Ford F650 chassis cab, with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of up to 13,000kg.

The vehicle is expected to have similar specifications to the Smith Newton pure electric truck that is sold in the United Kingdom and Europe. Newton is available in GVWs from 7,500kg to 12,000kg and has a top speed of 50mph, with a range in excess of 100 miles on one battery charge.

Smith expects to begin U.S manufacturing of the first of this product in the second half of 2008. For more information, visit www.SmithElectricVehicles.com.