Features
7 sep 21

Major European fleets start trials of Ford E-Transit

Major European fleets are starting trials of Ford’s new all electric Transit light commercial vehicle, prior to its launch in spring 2022.

The trials will test the battery-powered vehicle in real-world conditions across a range of different industries, ranging from construction to utilities and waste disposal, as well as last mile and grocery deliveries.

Major fleets involved

Participating fleets include AWB, Balfour Beatty, the City of Cologne municipal fleet, DHL Express, DPD, Norwegian Post, online supermarket Ocado and Recover Nordic, with the six- and 12-month trials taking place in Germany, Norway and the UK.

Dave Petts, market lead, urban electrified vans, Ford of Europe, said: “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 undertook a similar pre-launch trial programme in Cologne and London with the launch of its Custom Plug-in Hybrid van, and believes the project proved successful in helping fleets to assess the vehicle for their own individual use cases.

Multiple variants trialled

The fleet of 10 protoype E-Transits includes a wide range of variants, including van, double-cab-in-van and chassis cab derivatives featuring specialist vehicle conversions such as a refrigerated box body for grocery delivery, a dropside for construction, and a caged tipper for waste removal, as well as panel van options for last mile delivery operators. The vehicles will have a payload capacity of up to 1,758kg

And gross vehicle masses ranging from 3.5 to 4.25 tonnes. Their official WLTP range is as much as 314km (196 miles) per charge.

Limited large e-LCV choice

Until recently, fleets have had a limited selection of affordable large electric commercial vehicles with adequate ranges.

The E-Transit, however, will cost from £42,695 plus VAT (€49,670), making it significantly cheaper than the Renault e-Master, Mercedes-Benz eSprinter, and Opel / Vauxhall Movano-e, yet the Ford has a substantially greater range and payload capacity.

 

Image: Ford

Authored by: Jonathan Manning