Blue Oval readying entire ecosystem for new Ford E-Transit Custom

Ford says it’s investing heavily to develop a full range of support systems and backup for the all-new 2024 Ford E-Transit Custom mid-size electric delivery van, which was officially launched by the brand’s commercial arm, Ford Pro, in Germany recently.

Ford Pro was established in the UK, Europe and the US a couple of years ago alongside the launch of the larger E-Transit van, Ford’s first fully electric commercial vehicle. Ford has now taken the learnings from that model and applied them to the smaller E-Transit Custom.

Under the banner of ‘Productivity Electrified’, Ford Pro is rolling out a comprehensive suite of services and backup to help customers purchasing the E-Transit Custom, from SMEs (small to medium enterprises) through to larger fleets.

The media presentation in Frankfurt highlighted just how quickly the commercial space and indeed the wider transport industry is evolving as the transition to battery-electric vehicles gains pace.

“For our business customers in particular, when they start to electrify their vehicles the solution can’t stop with the vehicle,” said Ford Pro communications and public affairs manager Peter Watt.

“You can’t just give them a vehicle and say ‘Go do your business’. There is a huge challenge that comes with trying to manage charging, through all of the software that you can use to manage these vehicles.

“This next generation of connected, electrified vehicles is almost like a smartphone on wheels, in a way; the mechanical content is not so significant but the digital content is all important.

“And that’s a challenge but it’s also a huge opportunity for our customers if they can get it right, if they have the tools to optimise their productivity, which is what our Ford Pro story is all about.

“They can benefit from a reduction in operating costs, better uptime, etcetera – all things that will be pivotal for their business.”

In Europe and the UK, Ford Pro says it’s focusing on its ‘five pillars’ to support the new medium electric van by providing a complete business solution: software, charging, servicing, financing and the vehicles themselves.

“It’s about providing all of these things as a one-stop shop for all of our customers, developed by Ford and delivered by Ford, all together,” said Watt.

The vans on location at the media event were integrated with a telematics platform and charging software, while the Ford Pro team had constructed a bespoke charging station with multiple Ford Pro fast-chargers to keep the vans’ batteries topped up.

“For us the electrification of this product is a real milestone moment, because we believe it will be one of the things that helps drive adoption for electric vehicles,” said Watt.

Ford Australia is also readying itself for the arrival of the E-Transit Custom, which is anticipated to arrive in local dealers at the end of this year. Ford Australia’s General Manager, Fleet & Upfitting, Christine Wagner, says the Australian business was also well placed to smooth the new model’s uptake.

“So in the Ford Australia customer base there is a very high proportion of business customers – about 30 per cent of what we sell goes to private buyers and the remainder goes to some sort of a business, from sole traders in the small to medium class through to large fleets, government and rental,” she says. “So I think already we have a lens that’s already very strongly commercially focused, and of the sorts of services that are under the Ford Pro banner – so the Ford Pro converter model, the telematics, the software, the charging – many elements of that are under development in Australia.

“We are progressing to sell not just a car but a range of services that enhance the experience for the car, and we’ve already started on that. And so, over time, what we’ll see is the development of those services.”

Ford Australia is also working on a platform that will serve as an interface for its electric vehicles and its customers’ bespoke fleet telematics systems, although it admits this infrastructure is still some time off locally.

Like the larger E-Transit, which was launched in Australia in May last year, the E-Transit Custom will be fully integrated with the FordPass app, giving both small business customers and retail customers access to a wide range of vehicle information and functions from their smartphone.

FordPass will allow owners to see their van’s charging and battery status, conduct route planning and show charging locations, and can also be used to pre-heat or cool the van’s cabin, among many other functions.

“So FordPass will be available from the get-go and for a lot of small business customers that will be enough,” said Ford Australia’s general manager of fleet sales Christine Wagner.

“So those benefits are already inherently built in, so I think some services are available that will be enormously beneficial and then we will expand over time with some of the other ones.”

Wagner said preparations for Ford’s electric vehicle were well underway.

“It’s much more than just the vehicle planning,” she said, highlighting that Ford Australia has five EVs either already here or in the pipeline: E-Transit, E-Transit Custom, Ranger PHEV, Mustang Mach-E and Puma EV.

“We’ve made an enormous investment in the dealer network,” she said. “We at the moment have some 65 dealers that are now qualified under the electrification program, so that’s everything from investing in physical infrastructure and charging, through to training technicians in high-voltage equipment – those are pretty major structural changes to the business.

“We have 65 or so [dealers authorised to sell and service EVs] at this present time and by the end of the year we’ll have close to 100 [out of a total dealer network of 180].

“That’s an important safety net for customers, to know they’ve got an OEM that’s going to support them in the field.”

Ford Australia also recently announced a tie-up with charging specialist Evie to assist EV owners in establishing a home charging system.

“That integration of not just the product but the service by which you charge it, and making that streamlined and simple, has been an important part of infrastructure we’ve been working on for some time,” says Wagner.

But while Ford Pro offers a Vehicle Integration System to help smooth the way for custom fit-outs in Europe, there’s no word just yet on a similar program for Australia.

However, Ford Australia has commenced working with customisers on the new Transit Custom platform. It has already shared its Body Equipment Mounting Manual and recently invited body building partners to inspect an ICE derivative of the new second-generation Transit Custom on which the E-Transit Custom is based.

“From what we’ve now seen the load spaces, the hard points, are the same [between BEV and ICE] and so the opportunity for that is one and the same,” said Wagner.

“So that allows a modifier to get ahead with things like racking and other things that might be required, and it’s been a valuable exercise to start to get the modifiers on board.

“I think these sorts of examples show that Ford Australia wants to prepare the business to the best extent possible for being able to adapt to taking on these [EV] customers and giving them the benefits.”

While pricing for the new 2024 Ford Transit Custom range has been announced ahead of its imminent arrival, the all-important price of the first E-Transit Custom is yet to be confirmed ahead of its late-2024 release.

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