Stevens Vehicles Ltd is a British

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

and van manufacturer based in

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...

. The company is a manufacturer of

zero emission A zero emission engine, electric motor, motor, process, or other energy source emits no waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate. Zero emission engines Vehicles and other mobile machinery used for transport (over land, sea ...

electric cars and vans designed by the father and son team of Tony Stevens and Peter Stevens.The Daily Telegraph, Motoring section, 1 March 2008 The vehicles were conceived, designed and developed in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England and are manufactured at Port Talbot,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Background

The brand, comprising two vehicle types, was launched on 1 March 2008, comprising the ZeCar and ZeVan. The designer is Professor Tony Stevens, who has spent over 50 years in the motor industry and who has long experience in the

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, design and marketing of vehicles. Tony Stevens designed the Hillman Hunter and

Sunbeam Rapier The Sunbeam Rapier is an automobile produced by Rootes Group from 1955 until 1976, in two different generations, the "Series" cars (which underwent several revisions) and the later (1967–76) fastback shape, part of the "Rootes Arrow, Arrow" ran ...

. Peter Stevens is an international banker, involved in the financial and sales side of the business. The design of the vehicles has been described as being "deliciously weird....a bit dippy, yet great fun and strangely stylish." The strong visual statement derives from their distinctive height, which results from the higher than normal driving position. This is based on the belief, of Tony Stevens, that the driver should be positioned as if sitting at a table. This position gives the driver good access and visibility, but the design also provides plenty of headroom. Both types of vehicle are designed to maximise internal space relative to external dimensions so that, although they are shorter and narrower than most compact vehicles they are also taller, thus creating the equivalent space of a much larger vehicle. The Ze in Zecar and ZeVan stands for zero environmental emissions. On-road

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

emissions are zero. However, the lead-acid batteries require recharging which may produce carbon dioxide, depending on the energy supply source. Stevens Vehicles is being supported by the

Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

's Accelerate Clusters programme which plans to strengthen the automobile sector in Wales by developing emerging technologies and identifying and exploiting niche markets. The factory is based at the ECM2 business site within the

Port Talbot Steelworks Port Talbot Steelworks is a steel mill in Port Talbot, Wales. It is the largest steelworks in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in the world. Over 4,000 people worked at the plant until the last blast furnace closed in October 2024. Aro ...

. The Stevens Vehicles website currently indicates that they are no longer producing vehicles having failed to secure further adequate finance.

ZeCar

The ZeCar is a five-door

hatchback A hatchback is a car body style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...

with a twin AC induction brushless and maintenance free electric engine, giving the car 140 lb ft of

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...

. There is a maintenance-free toothed belt drive to the rear wheels. Battery charging comprises an on-board automatic charging system, with maintenance-free sealed lead-acid gel batteries. The maximum speed of the ZeCar is 56 mph, and with standard batteries the maximum range is 56 miles, unless back-up batteries are used. Acceleration is 0–40 mph in 15 seconds. The running cost is calculated at 1.2p per mile and the car is not subject to road tax, or congestion charges and parking is free or discounted in some cities such as London. In 2008, this was the only five-seat electric car on sale in Britain.

ZeVan

The ZeVan is based on the same design as the ZeCar. Access to the rear is by twin-split doors which open out fully and the near-cube design allows optimum space utilisation. The load volume is one Cheps pallet or a Euro pallet and the payload is 450 kg. The dimensions of the load area are 1.80 cubic metres. The estimated battery life is 700 cycles at 80% depth of discharge and the design life is 12 years. The cost per mile is estimated at between 1p and 1.2p depending on the electricity tariff rate. As the van is electric it does not need servicing and at the end of the battery life Stevens Vehicles would plan to collect the old battery, replace it with a new one, and recycle the old battery. The van is constructed on the principle that it can be recharged on a three-pin plug, thus avoiding the need for supporting infrastructure, although rapid chargers can be purchased allowing a recharge time of 30 minutes. The range is 55 miles for the van and driver, reducing to 38 miles for a fully laden van. Additional batteries can be fitted to increase the range by 50%, but with a corresponding reduction in payload of 125 kg.

Plans

The project plan is to develop several variations on the "Ze" theme. Plans include variants on the Ze range, including a pick-up truck and

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

, together with a contemporary version of the Cipher, a concept car first shown at the 1980 motor show and which could go on sale with an electric engine with a range capability of 70 miles and a 70 mph top speed. New battery technologies are under development, including non-hydrogen fuel cells and bio-diesel hybrids. The global plan is to establish small Ze plants in rural areas across the developing world. The production line and other tools and materials would be delivered by a single lorry and full-scale production could begin rapidly with output flexible enough to meet the cycle of local supply. Tony Stevens refers to this concept as Global Village Transport.

References

External links