Tevva Motors, the UK pioneer of range-extended medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission electric trucks, accompanied Prime Minister Theresa May on her first trade visit to China.

The visit followed President Xi Jinping’s landmark speech espousing the benefits of free trade at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January last year.

Tevva (www.tevva.com) was joined by other high-profile names from the UK’s automotive sector — such as Aston Martin, McLaren and Jaguar Land Rover — together with CEOs from other sectors such as HSBC, Astra Zeneca and BP.

In all, some 40 organisations travelled to China with Mrs May, representing a range of businesses key to ‘UK plc’s’ export ambitions.

Tevva’s initial range of 7- to 14-tonne electric trucks will be hitting Britain’s roads this spring; the company says export markets are key to its long-term growth ambitions, adding that an aggressive R&D programme will see heavier trucks and other new technologies (both hardware and software) introduced in 2019.

Tevva Motors’ CEO Asher Bennett said: “City authorities in both the UK and China are placing a high priority on tackling city air quality and the negative impact of NOx and particulate pollution on health.

“Tevva is at the forefront of truck technologies that can make zero-emission freight movement not just a practical reality but actually the norm — and cheaper than diesel over the life of the vehicle.

“The benefits of this technology are already being recognised in the freight industry, as demonstrated by our growing order book, and we were delighted to join the Prime Minister in China as an example of the best of British high-technology manufacturing.”