The company's electric vehicle and bus production were separated in 1949, with buses continuing to carry the Northern Coachbuilders brand.

The Boyertown-Smith connection was forged in the late 1950s, when Smith's managing director was in the United States to explore a partnership with William and James Conway (owners of Mister Softee, whose mobile ice-cream trucks were built by Boyertown).

The Smith ST range of 7.5-ton low-speed electric trucks were marketed for municipal operations and interior applications requiring heavy-duty, emissionless vehicles.

Smith ST vehicles are used in nuclear power plants,[13] large factories,[14] and salt mines which have been converted into records-storage facilities.

[15] The company re-branded itself as SEV Group and diversified into fleet management, mobile vehicle repair and the sale, hire and maintenance of forklifts and other material-handling equipment.

[20] Smith introduced the Newton 7.5-ton truck, which housed electric drivetrain technology in a chassis by Avia in the Czech Republic, in 2006.

[22] A new Smith Electric Vehicles production facility was built in Washington, Tyne and Wear, and was opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair in February 2007: "This will be a company that will really make its presence felt not just in the North East, but actually throughout the world.

Based on the Ford Transit, it was the first electric light-commercial vehicle with a GVW of less than 3,500 kg – meeting the "everyman" driving-license requirement of UK fleet operators.

[26] Smith was one of several electric-commercial-vehicle companies invited to the Department for Transport (DfT) in London for discussions on how the UK government might help stimulate the market for commercial electric vehicles.

The Tanfield Group cited a combination of supply-chain constraints, fleet-operator spending reductions and a lack of available credit for the decline in sales.

[35] In addition to establishing an associate company in the US, Smith appointed distributors for sales and service in all foreign markets which were offering incentives for electric vehicles.

Smith announced that it would produce a seven-seat executive minibus; 10 London taxis based on LTI's TX4 chassis, and five people carriers similar to the concept Ford Tourneo Connect exhibited in Geneva.

In August 2009, the UK government confirmed that Smith was one of three electric-van manufacturers on the final shortlist of suppliers for the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme.

[51] Although Tanfield initially maintained 49-percent ownership of the company, the percentage was subject to dilution as SEV raised additional equity capital.

[54] In August 2013, Smith signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture with Taikang Technology Corporation in Taiwan for electric-vehicle assembly and distribution.

[57] Smith entered a letter of intent agreement the following month with battery supplier Sinopoly to develop markets in China and Taiwan.

Customers in Europe included TNT Express,[67][68] TK Maxx,[69] DHL,[70] Balfour Beatty,[71][72] Bunzl,[73] A.G. Barr,[74] the Office of Public Works[75] in Ireland and Celtic Linen in Dublin.

[85] The Edison, based on the Ford Transit chassis, was powered by a 90 kW induction motor from Enova Systems and a 40 or 51kWh lithium-ion iron phosphate battery pack from Valence Technology.

Customers were in Russia (Revolta), Netherlands (Spijkstaal), Taiwan (Taikang), Hong Kong (CLP, FedEx), the UK, Sweden (FuelReduce) and Abu Dhabi.

According to Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association general secretary Bob Oddy, "Only about 40 percent of London cabbies will be able to work a full eight-hour shift on a 100-mile charge.

In October 2009, Smith US announced that it would join Humvee manufacturer AM General to produce a prototype electric delivery vehicle for the United States Postal Service.

[95] SmithLink arose from the desire to understand how a fleet of all-electric vehicles performs under a variety of conditions, such as topology, temperature and driving style.

[96] By 2014, the system had been installed in over 800 vehicles worldwide; in March of that year, SmithLink had recorded over of 8.5 million miles of data on its electric trucks.

In July 2009, Smith US delivered its first Newton trucks at a ceremony on Capitol Hill presided over by Missouri Senator Kit Bond.

The initial six vehicles were produced at Smith UK's facility in Washington, Tyne and Wear and shipped to Missouri in kit form for final assembly.

By October, Smith US had recruited and trained the nucleus of its workforce and Newton trucks began rolling off the production line in Kansas City.

[99] The Newton became the first all-electric truck on the US General Services Administration (GSA) schedule, a list of products approved for purchase by federal agencies and the US military, in January 2010.

[100] At the end of March 2010, US Senator Claire McCaskill announced that the Department of Energy was awarding an additional $22 million, allowing Smith US to increase its build program to more than 500 Newton trucks.

Tanfield gave Smith US a four-month period of exclusivity, giving the American company until July to raise the requisite funding and make a firm offer.

After President Barack Obama's visit to the Kansas City plant on 8 July, the exclusivity period was extended 60 days to September 2010.