Since its launch, the Ford E-Transit has proven to be a hot commodity among commercial customers looking to reduce maintenance and operating costs, and those customers have racked up over 12 million miles in the U.S. and Canada, saving more than 745,000 gallons of gas and over 4.3 million kg of CO2 when compared to its gas-powered Transit equivalent, according to Ford. The EV van has been so popular, in fact, that Ford admits it underestimated demand and is working on ramping up production by adding a third shift at the Kansas City Assembly plant to compensate. Now, the Ford E-Transit lineup is set to grow with the addition of a new, extended range version scheduled to debut next week, according to Electrek.
The new, extended range Ford E-Transit will reported be unveiled on May 11th, and will offer customers 186 miles of range on a single charge – an improvement of 60 miles over the current version’s 126-mile range, as well as 19.2 kW of AC charging capability. The standard range E-Transit will continue to be sold as a less expensive alternative for fleets that don’t need that extra juice, however.
As far as what battery the extended range Ford E-Transit will utilize, Electrek speculates that it could be the same 98 kWh unit that’s present in the Ford F-150 Lightning. However, it’s more likely that it will simply employ the same 91 kWh LG-built pack that’s current utilized in extended range versions of the Ford Mustang Mach-E. The existing version of the E-Transit employs the same 68 kWh unit that the standard range Mach-E used prior to making the switch to a lithium-iron phosphate unit, after all. Unlike the F-150 Lightning and Mach-E, the E-Transit won’t be getting an LFP battery pack any time soon.
In the meantime, orders continue to flow in for Ford’s segment-topping EV van, with the United States Postal Service (USPS) recently placing an order for 9,250 units, while new variants are also rolling out on a regular basis – most recently, a Type A school bus from a company called Collins Bus joined that list of offerings.
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Comments
And that is with a botched design. The mid-height is “a bait and switch”, pushing people to the full height, but that comes at more than just a higher price. It also means no short length version and diminished range because of higher energy loss in aerodynamics. The mid-height will not accommodate a 5′ 11′ person in the back without ducking because, amazingly, people wear shoes.
How many people would have ordered an electric van, except that they can’t get one that will fit in a parking space that they can walk inside without bloodying up their head?
The European version has a lower floor and front-wheel drive. The American one should have been the same but with in-wheel motors in the back and had hybrid and full electric versions.
At the very least, they need to increase the mid-height by 2 inches.
Some greedy bean counter thought he knew what he was doing. Fire that slug, and fix the van.
Here’s what they are not telling you. They ordered 9250 units, correct? If they used a gas powered van, they would only need to order half as many. Just like Amazon, they need to order twice as many EV’s because the amazon drivers go back to their warehouse to change out trucks because the batteries are going dead. So all this hype is costing the American tax payer twice as much. Yeah that’s a hell of a deal, don’t purchase gas, buy 2 EV’s instead.
Steve, you’re right, the E transit will not work for all customers all the time. But it works very well for certain customers and some use cases. One such customer, Smedley plumbing, added one to their gas fleet and finds it very helpful. Note that they did not try to completely change over. Also, FORD has the records for the use of the gas transit van, and designed the electric version to meet some percentage of that market, maybe 80%? I am not a fleet customer, and I need to drive three hours on occasion to a destination with limited charging points, so I am waiting for the version with the longer range.