All-electric Ford E-Transit hits the road

The ground-breaking new Ford E-Transit has clocked on for work in Europe as part of customer trials with a number of major fleet operators ahead of an official local release by mid-2022.

Ford’s first all-electric commercial vans and cab/chassis vehicles could eventually be sold in Australia, where the blue oval brand continues to consider its EV strategy.

While Ford Australia’s first electrified model – the plug-in hybrid Escape medium SUV – has been delayed to early 2022 due to a fire risk, its first local EV could be the Mustang Mach-E crossover, the Mondeo Evos fastback or the F-150 Lightning.

Ford Australia will launch the new Ranger ute in early 2022 and could also eventually land the all-new Maverick baby ute, but for now it’s keeping its electric commercial vehicle plans close to its chest.

“We have no news to share about any additions to the Transit line-up in Australia at this time,” said a Ford Australia spokesperson.

“However, Ford Australia recognises the growing appetite for EVs and we’re taking a considered approach to electrification to make sure we get our offering right for our customers.

“We are very proud of our Transit line-up, with the versatility of the range across Transit Custom, Transit Custom Sport, Transit Bus, Transit Van and Transit Cab Chassis providing an option for every commercial customer.”

If it came here, the E-Transit range would compete with the recently-released Fuso eCanter electric truck in the light-duty (3500-8000kg GVM) commercial vehicle segment.

While Transit Custom sales are up 48 per cent so far in 2021, with 2121 registrations threatening the Hyundai iLoad but not the Toyota HiAce, sales of the larger Transit range have surged 50 per cent to 1034 – less than only the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

The European trials mark the latest phase in Ford’s development of the new E-Transit, following a demanding testing program at Ford proving grounds and engineering facilities.

The real-world trial kicks off with 10 E-Transit prototypes being put to the test across a variety of intensive operating scenarios in the postal, municipal and utilities, last-mile and grocery delivery sectors within Germany, Norway and the UK.

Trial partners – including AWB waste disposal, the City of Cologne, DHL Express in the UK, DPD, Norwegian Post and Recover Nordic – will operate the E-Transit prototypes over six- or 12-month periods.

The trial fleet comprises the full range of E-Transit variants including van, double-cab-in-van and cab/chassis derivatives with GVMs from 3.5 to 4.25 tonnes, and a variety of specialised vehicle conversions reflecting the complex operating requirements that Transit vehicles need to support.

“We want to demonstrate that helping customers reduce their environmental impact can go hand-in-hand with improving their productivity,” said Ford of Europe’s market lead for urban electrified vans, Dave Petts.

“Real-world mileage in customer hands helps us to show the business benefits that E-Transit can deliver, as well as providing valuable feedback on usage patterns and charging behaviour so that we can refine the operating experience.”

Ford says the E-Transit has been carefully engineered to allow simple and straightforward conversion using the same fixtures and fittings developed for existing Transit models.

A selection of the trial vehicles have been converted by the Ford-approved Qualified Vehicle Modifier network to help demonstrate the versatility of the E-Transit platform.

Examples of the conversions include a refrigerated box body for grocery delivery, powered by 2.3kW ProPower Onboard system, a drop-side body for tradies, a caged tipper for refuse removal, and last-mile van and box body with walkthrough bulkhead and rear air suspension.

The E-Transit customer trials program follows an earlier successful initiative featuring the Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid, during which a cross-section of city-based customers covered over 240,000km and found they could operate in zero-emission mode for 75 per cent of their mileage when in central London.

Further testing in Cologne, Germany helped demonstrate the benefit of innovative dynamic geofencing technology, which automatically triggered zero-emissions EV Now mode in areas with particularly high air pollution to help improve local air quality in urban areas.

Ford is the UK’s best-selling commercial vehicle brand, and the Transit Custom is its favourite commercial vehicle overall.