Tevva reaches major milestone

Tevva has announced its is starting mass production of its 7.5t electric truck. This follows securing European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA) for the HGV, which means that Tevva can start producing and selling in volume across the UK and Europe.

Tevva becomes the first British company to receive ECWVTA for a 7.5t electric truck., It aims sell up to 1,000 electric trucks in 2023, with first customers including Expect Distribution, Travis Perkins, and Royal Mail. 

Designed for last-mile and urban logistics, the vehicle provides range of up to 140 miles (227km) from its 105kWh battery pack. It will be followed later in 2023 by a 7.5t hydrogen-electric truck, which extends the range to up to 354 miles (570km).

Tevva Founder and CEO Asher Bennett said: “We are on a mission to make sustainable trucks accessible at scale and believe our technology will empower the transport sector and the governments of Europe to meet their net-zero goals. By embracing both hydrogen and electric fuel sources, we can rethink the energy mix in transport, reduce strain on our electricity grid and accelerate electric truck adoption.”

Forum's First Impressions: 

There is undoubtedly appetite from forward-thinking logistics companies for electric 7.5t trucks - and Tevva's range of up to 140 miles should be sufficient for a lot of intra-urban operations. Tevva has already signed up some high-profile customers and has set an achievable sales target for 2023. It feels like the company is on more solid ground than some other start-ups who are scaling back right now.

It is also a smart move by Tevva to get the battery-electric truck out first. The jury is still out on hydrogen trucks due to the current lack of refuelling infrastructure, additional cost, and question marks over energy efficiency compared to "pure" battery-electric.

However, the same allegations around charging infrastructure and cost were made when EVs first started to appear back in the early 2010s and they've proved the naysayers wrong. We'll continue to watch the development of the hydrogen market with interest.