Modec’s electric van hits the street.

The days of the smog producing exhaust spewing white van-man appear to be numbered as new reports show that UK companies are increasingly moving towards greener climate friendly vehicles. Back in 2004 a relatively minor firm called Modec was established in Coventry by former chairman and CEO of Manganese Bronze Jamie Borwick. Since its creation, Modec has grown by leaps and bounds and it now resides at the forefront of the green automotive industry. After the initial start-up, Borwick managed to secure £30m for the development of the Modec Van, a state of the art electric vehicle. Since then the company hasn’t looked back.

The first company to take a significant interest in Modec was the retail giant Tesco, who commissioned a series of electric vans for their home delivery service. Many other companies soon followed Tesco’s lead, and decided to phase out old and used vans for greener, more environmentally friendly models. Since then dozens of companies including FedEx, UPS, M&S and Network Rail have begun to replace their older fleets with Modec’s electric vans.

So what the big deal, isn’t it just another electric motor? Well not really, Modec is pretty original as companies go, they were one of the first UK companies to focus solely upon the electric automobile industry and their vans by far outstrip all available competition. The standard Modec van can do 60-100 miles a day on one battery, which takes approximately 8 hours or so to charge. The vans come in various formats and are capable of carrying a 2 tonne payload. Perhaps one of the greatest selling points of the Modec is not its green credentials, but the amount of money that you can save through fuel conservation and tax benefits. At present the Modec has zero road tax, its’ not eligible for London’s congestion charge and it runs at a cheap 15p per mile. The operator also boast that Modec vans undergo significantly less maintenance due to the fact that the motor has only 3 moving parts.

Unfortunately thou for all you Joe Bloggs out there with your small courier businesses and van hire companies, the Modec Van comes with a top-whack sticker price of £40,000. It’s pretty steep, but that’s the small price you pay for your ecological conscience.