It has teamed up with The London Electric Vehicle Company to create the first electric taxi delivery vans for use in construction.

The new red delivery cabs will be put through their paces over the next few months in the hope they will fill demand for one-tonne, zero emission commercial vehicles, currently dominated by diesel models.

The traditional London taxicab has had a full interior conversion to accommodate two Euro-sized pallets with a total payload of over 800kg.

The red van’s powertrain has an initial limit of 61 miles and a petrol range extender, which maintains the battery charge state to provide a total range of over 300 miles.

Aaron Powell, head of fleet at Speedy, said: “The construction sector accounts for 10% of the UK’s carbon emissions and we recognise that the hire industry is uniquely placed to introduce innovative, sustainable solutions that can reduce this.

“This new electric van will set a new standard for small electric commercial vehicles, LEVC’s powertrain technology has already saved 36,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere through its use in the taxi and shuttle market.”