The trucks have a battery range of 100 miles, after which a dual power mode can be used to top up the battery. They will be used in London to move packages between mail distribution centres in the city and the local area, with a further batch of 100 electric vans on order from Peugeot set to enter service in December.
Paul Gatti, Royal Mail Fleet’s managing director said in a statement: “We have trialled electric trucks before but not of this type of innovative design.”
The trucks’ wrap around front window design is said to meet Transport for London’s ‘Direct Vision Standard’, which states that drivers or large vehicles should be able to see pedestrians and cyclists without using mirrors or cameras.
The final versions of the vehicles may also include some of the same artificial intelligence systems being used by Roborace's self-driving cars.
These trucks are the first to come out of Arrival’s new 110,000 square foot factory in the Midlands. Arrival claims it will be able to produce 50,000 vehicles per year and that they will be entirely built by robots.
