Ford is to start production of a new fully electric Transit van, scheduled to arrive in the UK in 2022.
The new Ford E-Transit will join a slowly evolving Ford line-up of electric vehicles which is part of the company’s $11.5bn investment in electrification.
E-Transit vans will have a 67kWh battery returning an estimated 217-mile range – based on the WLTP combined cycle – and claims it will have the most powerful motor of any electric van with a 198kW (269hp) peak output as well as 430Nm of torque.
The E-Transit will be available in 25 different body types with van, double cab, and chassis cab versions all with multiple body lengths and roof height options, and the E-Transit van weight will be up to 4.25 tonnes.
Based on the rear-wheel-drive version of the Transit, the E-Transit dimensions are unchange from the diesel and it has the same cargo area size. Batteries are located under the body between the chassis giving a total volume of up to 15.1cu m depending on body size. Thanks to the increased GVW allowance of up to 4.25 tonnes for electric vehicle the largest payload capacity panel van can transport as much as 1,616kg with a 1,967kg allowance for chassis cab vans.
Charging for the E-Transit will be possible with both AC and DC currents, with an 11.3kW on-board charger said to give a 100% change in just over eight hours or a rapid charging 115kW DC charge being capable of taking the battery from 15% to 80% in just 34 minutes.
Trials of the Ford E-Transit will begin in 2021 with selected customers, in the same manner as the roll out of the Ford Transit Custom PHEV which was tested by several fleets in the UK including Speedy Services and Vodafone.
