Confidence is when a manufacturer hands you their electric vehicle not altered, tweaked or optimised for maximum drive range. It is when they throw you the keys to their tester with a one-ton concrete block strapped to its bed.

Said concrete block is something you’d probably find at an active BTO construction site (perhaps used for kentledge load testing). It may seem a little off-topic here. But think about it – who drives a truck around with an empty bed? Shouldn’t trucks be evaluated with some real-world loads strapped to them?

Either way, there’s no denying the momentum the Forland brand has had here since they officially entered the Singapore market during the Singapore Motorshow back in January. Since the Chinese EV Truck maker’s debut locally, they’ve sold an average of 14 units per month consistently.

Sure, the $40,000 HVZES rebate might have something to do with its momentum. But with so many other electric trucks also qualifying for the same rebate, there’s surely some other secret sauce behind its success?

Forland S1 Exterior Design, Payload

The Forland S1 is what you’d expect from a 10ft cabover truck. It strictly adheres to a formula and form factor that most buyers in its segment would be familiar with.

To put it simply, if you bought an S1 and you came from something like a Dyna or a Cabstar, there’s basically no learning curve or adaption that you have to undergo to drive this.

Still, that doesn’t mean Forland has neglected the finer details. The S1 is bang up to 2026 spec, meaning it has projector headlights, DRLs and even what looks like a faux lightbar. The truck bed looks impressively stout, and is rated to carry up to 16 pax. Three people more than in the aforementioned Dyna or Cabstar.

If you want to carry more than just people, you’d be glad to find out that the Forland S1 has a payload of up to 2.7 tons. No reason to doubt their claims, as several units have already been delivered with refrigerated boxes – and those weigh up to 1.5 tons on their own.

Forland S1 Interior Design, Usability

Utilitarian it is not. Sure, the cabin is mostly made out of a durable, hard-wearing plastic. But where it matters you get the sense that Forland addressed some potential ergonomic concerns during its R&D phase.

Take for example the seats. The seat base has a fairly dense foam, which helps improve comfort and assists your body in resisting the stiff suspension (more on that later). There are also some soft touch plastics near the areas on the doors where you’d be resting your elbow.

Whilst not strictly necessary, splashes of colour-contrast trims have been scattered throughout the cabin, really helping to lift the overall experience. This is then paired with a digital cluster and a touchscreen infotainment system.

There are still areas for improvement though. The S1 is a strict 2+1 seater, as the centre occupant has to share space with the shifter, 12V socket and a frankly rather undersized cupholder. As a result, the seatbase is small, awkwardly shaped and can prove to not be comfortable on longer journeys.

Forland S1 Driving Experience, Powertrain

Powering the S1 is a rear-mounted electric motor with 270Nm of torque. This draws its power from a liquid-cooled CATL battery pack with 63.75kWh of capacity.

Forland claims it’d do up to 340 kilometres on a single charge. And there’s once again little reason to doubt their claims, as it managed to average 4.9km/kWh even with a load in its bed. Some basic arithmetic will reveal that the S1 will do around 312 kilometres with a one-ton payload.

When adjusted for cargo, the Forland S1 will do the claimed 340 kilometres in the real world. But this wouldn’t be a 340 kilometres in total comfort. As the leaf springs are really geared for serious load, the ride quality does suffer, but is something we’ve been told will be addressed in future models.

But the Achilles heel of Chinese vehicles in its segment is in their charge compatibility. It isn’t surprising to find rival models struggling to seamlessly connect to various public chargers. We tried a wide array of AC and DC chargers from most of the local charge providers, and we are happy to report that it just works. The S1 even efficiently ramped up to the manufacturer’s claimed DC65 and AC11 fairly quickly too.

Redefining Electric Logistics

Businesses demand a tool that just…works. No fuss and no drama, preferably with running costs that are as low as possible. And from that perspective, the Forland S1 checks a lot of boxes.

You get a heavy duty truck with enough real-world range for flexible deployment, that can reliably charge at a wide array of public AC or DC chargers, and with overall dimensions that allow you to easily navigate the tightest of carparks.an experimental alternative and more like a genuinely robust workhorse.

For local businesses and SMEs looking to pivot away from aging diesel lorries, the Forland S1 presents a compelling, hassle-free proposition. Rather impressively, for a brand that’s still so fresh to the local market, this 10ft electric contender demonstrates that it is more than ready to carry the heavy load of Singapore’s commercial future.

If you wanted a G-Plate Forland Truck instead, we reviewed the smaller ET5 here!