Morris van returns in electric format

The 1950s era Morris J-type van is making a come-back in all-electric form.

Morris Commercial plans to shortly unveil the battery electric light commercial Morris JE van – but not as a replica of the 70-year-old original.

Designed and engineered in Britain, the new BEV is a modern interpretation using advanced technologically and innovative engineering with premium materials, said to have high functionality and long-range (unstated but expected to exceed 200km) for multiple business and consumer applications.

A fully operational and road-tested engineering prototype will be unveiled soon, the company says.

The vehicle has a lightweight modular chassis and carbon fibre body, making it highly adaptable.

First introduced in 1948 at Earls Court, London, the J-type was the archetypal ‘big’ little van with a ground-breaking load capacity-to-footprint ratio.

It was extensively used for promotional and advertising purposes because of its distinctive and appealing styling and was exported to more than 22 countries, including New Zealand and Australia. Some are still used today as ice cream vans and for food retailing, occasionally appearing in film and advertising campaigns.

Having secured the rights to the Morris Commercial brand name, the UK-based management team had a vision to revive the British brand with a series of all-electric vehicles, starting with the Morris JE with sustainability topping the agenda through its commitment to full electrification. The project headquartered in Worcestershire is led by established automotive designers and engineers.

“I am so pleased to reach this stage after over two years of intense development,” Morris Commercial founder and chief executive officer Dr Qu Li says.

“The working engineering prototype has undergone extensive road testing and the end of 2019 is an amazing conclusion to the first phase of the project. We still have a little way to go to bring the project to full production, but we have the team and the product to make this an enormous success.”

Pricing has yet to be revealed.

*Footnote: The editor used to drive a Morris J delivering groceries after school in the 1960s.