Launch of Zero Emission Van

Tanfield Group PLC
23 April 2007

23 April 2007



                             The Tanfield Group Plc

                          ('Tanfield' or 'the Group')



                 LAUNCH OF EDISON ELECTRIC ZERO EMISSION VAN &

                               NEW CONTRACT WINS



Tanfield, the leading manufacturer of zero emission electric vehicles and aerial
work platforms, is pleased to announce the successful launch of its Edison zero
emission electric van. Tanfield has today also secured its first contracts for
initial orders of Edison with Sainbury's, TNT, CEVA Logistics and Scottish &
Southern Energy.



J Sainsbury Plc ('Sainsbury's'), a leading UK retailer, has ordered an initial
eight Edison electric vans for its Sainsbury's Online home shopping delivery
fleet. Sainsbury's aims to switch 20% of its urban delivery fleet to electric
vehicles by September 2008 and its entire urban home shopping fleet by 2010.



The order follows a year-long trial by Sainsbury's of the Faraday zero emission
electric vehicle, a larger van based on a different chassis and also produced by
Tanfield's trading division, Smith Electric Vehicles. Sainsbury's Online
deployed the Faraday in home shopping delivery applications in Central London.



The Edison electric van utilises a Ford Transit Body shell, housing Tanfield's
higher function electric vehicle technology. It has a restricted top speed of
50mph and a range of up to 150 miles on one battery charge. Tanfield has signed
a supply agreement with Ford that will see Smith Electric Vehicles convert an
initial 100 Ford Transit Body shells to battery-powered Edison vans.



Tanfield has received further confirmed orders for Edison from parcel and
logistics companies TNT Express and CEVA Logistics (formerly TNT Logistics), who
have both already deployed Tanfield's Newton 7.5t electric vehicle.



Scottish & Southern Energy, one of the UK's largest energy companies, has also
ordered the Edison for use in its fleet of 6,000 commercial vehicles.



Simon Skeet, Operations Manager for Sainsbury's Online, said:



'Thorough testing during the trial has given us a unique insight into the
vehicle's capabilities and has demonstrated that we can potentially take
hundreds of conventional vans out of our urban delivery fleet.



Our fleet will start small but the long term plans mean that by 2010, all our
delivery vans operating in high areas of 'delivery density', such as towns and
cities, will be battery powered. We look forward to working closely with Smith
Electric Vehicles with a view to fulfilling this requirement.'



Darren Kell, Chief Executive of The Tanfield Group Plc, said:



'Edison's urban performance capabilities have exceeded our own expectations and
those of our customers.



This initial order and further commitment by Sainsbury's demonstrates the level
of belief and confidence held by major fleet operators in our zero emission
vehicles.



The Ford Transit is the most popular and widely used van in its category,
further enhancing driver acceptability of our vehicles. Coupled with Edison's
unique performance capabilities, we are confident that the vehicle will generate
further volume orders.'



Smith Electric Vehicles will officially unveil Edison at the Commercial Vehicle
Show, Europe's largest exhibition of commercial vehicles. The CV Show takes
place in Birmingham NEC from Tuesday 24th April to Thursday 26th April, 2007.



                        website: www.tanfieldgroup.co.uk



For further information:


The Tanfield Group Plc                                 Tel: [phone]

Darren Kell, Chief Executive                           [e-mail]

Charles Brooks, Finance Director

Fishburn Hedges                                        Tel: [phone]

Morgan Bone                                            Mob: [phone]

James Benjamin                                         Mob: [phone]

                                                       [e-mail]

St. Helen's Capital plc                                Tel: [phone]

Ruari McGirr

Cenkos Securities plc                                  Tel: [phone]

Nicholas Wells



Notes to editors
The Tanfield Group Plc is the world's leading developer and manufacturer of road-going commercial electric vehicles and 
aerial work platforms. Tanfield is headquartered in Newcastle with operations in the USA and Japan. It has two main 
divisions:


Smith Electric Vehicles, was founded in 1920 and acquired by Tanfield in October
2004. Since its acquisition, Smith is developing into a world leader in new
technology electric vans and trucks with greatly enhanced performance, speed and
range capabilities. This makes them attractive for all fleet operators in large
towns, cities and closed industrial environment. For the first time, these fleet
operators have an economically viable, zero emission alternatives to using
diesel vans and trucks. Smith has an unrivalled UK-wide service and support
network, which already maintains over 5,000 vehicles for major fleet operators.
This core element of the business is beginning to fulfil its potential in terms
of addressing the requirements of large urban fleet operators, who want to
reduce their operational costs and more importantly, greatly reduce their carbon
footprint. Smith's airport offering is complemented by two specialist airport
vehicle sub-divisions; Jumbotugs and Norquip.


UpRight Powered Access, is firmly established as the UK's biggest manufacturer
of self-propelled aerial work platforms (such as 'cherry-pickers', 'scissor
lifts', 'trailer mounts', etc) and UpRight is globally one of the industry's
strongest aerial lift brands in what is a $7bn market. UpRight has assembly
facilities in the UK and USA, plus a wholly-owned subsidiary in Japan. Products
are sold through a strong global network of over 150 independent, full-service
distributors across Europe, North America, Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.
Tanfield has been successful in extending the UpRight product range and
achieving significant increases in average weekly order intake, boosted in part
by working at height regulations.

                                    - ENDS -


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