Our friends electric

Port Talbot electric vehicle company,

has unveiled Zevan, an electric commercial vehicle and the first of its type to be made in Wales.

Stevens Vehicles, a start-up company which will also be producing the Zecar electric car, was supported by the Welsh Assembly government to set up production in Wales. Ze stands for 'zero emissions'.

The company has its production headquarters in manufacturing R&D site ECM² in Port Talbot. It anticipates the Zevan, which does the equivalent of 250 miles to the gallon, will create considerable interest when it goes on the market.

The Zevan and the Zecar share the same platform and will have a top speed of 56mph (90kph), a 50 mile (80km) maximum range and cost under 2p a mile to run. They will be zero emissions at point of use and do not require road tax.

The vehicles were designed and developed by Prof Tony Stevens and his son Peter, a former city banker, who set up Stevens Vehicles to manufacture the vehicles for the UK market.

The first van produced by Stevens Vehicles has just been sold to a small business in London where the benefits of using electric vehicles include no congestion charge.