Smith Electric Vehicles, maker of the Newton plug-in electric delivery truck, began production at its diminutive plant in Kansas City. The Newton, plug-in electric is one of only a few electric vehicles built within the United States.
The plant where construction of the Newton takes place is a converted aircraft maintenance hanger at the Kansas City International Airport.
Smith Electric currently holds a one year lease on the production facility which employs a total of 14 workers. The company hopes to secure a larger building to increase production capability, but has not decided on a final location for the plant at this time. Several locations are eager to receive Smith Electric.
The new location of the plant is still up in the air as Smith is searching for a site in close proximity with a battery maker in order to reduce shipping costs of bulky, heavy batteries.
As has been reported previously, Smith Electric is conducting work with Ford on the EV version of its compact delivery van the Transit Connect. The vehicle is slated for production by the middle of next year. It will initially be offered as lease only to commercial accounts, though full volume production could follow.
For Smith Electric, production of the Newton EV is a grand success as the project has been in the works for a long time. For the U.S., another EV producer within our country marks a great achievement.
Source: AutoblogGreen
