Ford Reveals E-Transit Electric Cargo Van with 126 Mile Range and $ 45,000 Price Tag

Ford unveiled the all-electric version of its popular transit delivery van, with connected vehicle technology to help commercial vehicle owners better manage their cargo operations. E-Transit will have a smaller battery and lower range than most passenger EVs released in recent years, but Ford says it will be more than enough to meet the last-mile delivery needs of its commercial customers.

E-Transit is the second major electric vehicle to be released as a push into Ford’s $ 11.5 billion electrification, which the company says will last until 2022. First vehicle was The mustang mach-e, Which Ford will begin delivering to customers later this year. Next year, the company hopes to unveil its best-selling electric version F-150 Pickup Truck.

Ford is revealing its electric cargo van at a time when more people are using delivery than ever before. The coronavirus epidemic has forced more people to shop online for groceries and other services. And the need to invest in less polluting technology is at the front of mind for many vehicle manufacturers as nations around the world move to crack down on combustion vehicles.

When it releases in 2022, the e-Transit will have a 76 kWh battery pack, which should give it power for a range of 126 miles. This may seem comparable to long-range EVs such as Tesla, Lucid, and others. But Ford says it made the decision “to deliver the right amount of range based on fleet needs” based on 30 million miles of real-world driving telematics from its non-electric transit customers. Based on that analysis, Ford determined that the average daily mileage of a Ford Transit customer was just 76 miles.

Those shopping for themselves are “looking for an aspirational vehicle that actually exceeds the rocket ship’s acceleration, is beyond range belief, etc.”, Ford and Yaroslav, global director of commercial marketing for electric vehicles Hetman said. “When you talk to commercial customers, they look at things through two lenses: the total cost of ownership and security.”

Ford said the price should be right. If it opted for larger batteries with greater range, the price would have gone up, making e-transit ineffective for customers for whom Ford is hoping to target. To that end, the Blue Oval automaker is recommending a price tag of $ 45,000 – about 28 percent more than the price of non-electric transit vans at about $ 35,000, but priced to be competitive with other electric utility vans.

Ford’s commercial customers shop anywhere between a transit van and thousands of them. An important selling point when it is issued would be the availability of a $ 7,500 federal EV tax credit. How long, however, is unclear: a phase-out plan begins after an automaker delivers its 200,000th eligible car.

Ford is offering three variants of the e-Transit, each with a different roof height or body length – but nowhere near the 60 trim levels available for gas-powered transit vans.

Of course, e-transit is an EV, which means we need to be visually impressed Future. But it’s not Tesla or even Mustang, so the high-tech facade of e-transit will have more to do with fleet operations for commercial vehicle owners. And that means features that give a slight Orwellian sound on the surface.

Ford describes a feature such as “vehicle, real-time driver coaching,” in which fleet operators can use the vehicle’s SYNC 4 operating system to monitor their employees’ driving. Anytime a worker exceeds the speed limit, accelerates too fast, brakes with stiffness, quits the engine while parked, or fails to accelerate the seatbelt, the disgruntled voice of their boss hits their To correct the behavior the vehicle will pipe on the speaker.

Ford Commercial Solutions Chief Operating Officer Julius Marchwicke said, “We can use voice assistants inside the vehicle to actually communicate to the driver that they are effectively driving recklessly or to correct some of their behavior have the opportunity.” “And real-time feedback for the driver is much more effective than trying to do any coaching after the fact.”

There is also a Driver ID feature, which gives fleet operators a way to associate specific drivers with their vehicles. Drivers must enter a unique code in the SYNC screen to tell their employers which vehicle the driver is using. “By associating a driver with a specific vehicle, managers can analyze performance metrics to identify new coaching opportunities to help manage driver performance,” Ford says.

E-Transit will also serve as a mobile power source with exportable power of 2.4 kW for vehicle owners who need to plug in power tools or other devices. The plugs are located on the rear edge of the passenger side door for easy access. Ford saw a circular to contractors using e-transit, for example, asking them to stay at work.

E-Transit will also share some features with other EVs in Ford’s lineup. For example, owners will be able to remotely adjust a vehicle’s heating and cooling system, while plugging the vehicle in, like the Mach-E. Fleet operators can monitor their vehicles after hours and receive alerts if any of their vehicles are stolen, used or towed without permission, even if they have been damaged. .

E-Transit will land amid a wave of new electric vehicles going into production for the North American market. Most will be passenger vehicles, but a handful will be for commercial delivery.

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Mercedes-benz is already Unveiled an electric version of the sprinter Van. Ford’s main rival is General Motors. Working on an electric delivery van, Codename “BV1”. recently, Amazon unveils its first all-electric delivery vehicle, Which is being produced by EV startup Rivian. And another startup, Bollinger, Recently Deliver-E detected, An all-electric delivery van concept in 2022, slated for production. Ford is collaborating with Volkswagen on commercial vans after both companies. Formed a global alliance early last year.

Ford is set to mass produce e-transit, will invest $ 100 million in a plant in Missouri that will serve as the central hub for the van’s assembly. Company recently Broke ground on a new manufacturing plant Outside of Dearborn, Michigan, where it will manufacture the electric F-150.

At first glance, e-transit looks almost identical to its gas-powered ancestor. To show restraint when designing e-transit, you must hand it to Ford. It even housed windy forests instead of going with the Tesla Model 3’s smooth fascia or Mach-E’s layered front end.

Everything else about e-transit is nonscript and means to mix in traffic – and that’s a good thing. This is not a vehicle to trigger your salivary glands and thunder for your wallet; It is meant to appeal to “business customers” who make “business decisions” using spreadsheets with lots of numbers and columns. And to that end, Ford thinks it’s a winner.

“We don’t focus so much on our competition,” Hetman said. “We focus on the customer. And if we can exceed their needs on a daily basis, be it with trucks, vans or retail vehicles, then we know we are going to win. “