Watt Electric Vehicle Company has unveiled its WATT eCV1 3.5-tonne van and chassis cab at the CV Show in Birmingham.
The electric van is a prototype for a future production model expected to be produced in volumes of up to 5000 units per year.
Its design is said to allow a wide range of electric commercial vehicle designs that will meet customers’ particular fleet requirements, and follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between WEVC and electric commercial vehicle specialist, ETRUX, earlier this year.
The eCV1 uses Watt’s proprietary PACES architecture - a modular electric vehicle platform that complies with ISO regulations and European Small Series Type Approval safety standards.
The batteries are integrated to the vehicle’s primary structure which Watts says optimises the van’s stiffness and reduces weight. It gets a central driving position gives the driver easier and safer kerbside access, and it can be configured to have one, two or three seats.
The central driving position has also allowed the van’s a-pillars to be repositioned inboard, improving the aerodynamics of the vehicle by reducing the frontal area and drag.
Watts had previously revealed that the eCV1 would be available in FWD, RWD and AWD configurations. This will enable the WATT eCV1 to be built as both a commercial vehicle and as a passenger model.
The PACES architecture stands for Passenger And Commercial EV Skateboard and is made up of bespoke aluminium lightweight extrusions produced with CNC-folded pieces that then interlock together in a process called FlexTech.
