Ford, a stalwart in the commercial truck market, has moved fast to offer electric variants, starting with the E-Transit van and most recently the F-150 Lightning pickup.
The E-Transit is equipped with a single 198.0-kW electric motor on the rear axle. It is integrated with a single-speed transmission and sends up to 317 pound-feet of torque via reinforced halfshafts to the back wheels. A new independent rear suspension was developed to make better use of the immediate torque while also providing enhanced handling, whether loaded or unloaded, over the gasoline-powered Transit’s leaf springs and solid-rear axle.
Ford builds the E-Transit alongside the gasoline-powered Transit van at Kansas City Assembly. Starting in 2020, the company invested $100 million and added 150 jobs there for the electric van.
Pricing for the E-Transit, available in eight configurations, three roof heights and three lengths, starts at $44,900, including shipping.
The low-roof cargo van variant will get up to 126 miles of range on a full charge, based on EPA estimates. Ford says internal research indicates commercial customers drive 74 miles a day.
Ford says the E-Transit’s versatility is on par with the standard Transit. To ensure that, Ford made sure the dimensions and hard points for all eight of the E-Transit’s body styles are identical to the gasoline model.
We’ve collected some reviews of the E-Transit.
“Where the F-150 Lightning will come with regular- or extended-range batteries and a dual-motor all-wheel-drive option, the E-Transit is a single pack/single motor affair. But that undersells the changes Ford made in converting the gas-powered Transit to an EV. Engineers stacked the high-voltage components — the charge port, DC/DC module, cooling pumps, and other items — in the former home of the gas engine, atop a ‘megabrace’ for added support and crash protection. Most importantly, this stack is home to Pro Power Onboard.
The critically acclaimed system arrives in the E-Transit with 2.4 kilowatts of power, but with the noted benefit of providing silent operation. Is your job site indoors? The E-Transit brings the generator with none of the gas-powered F-150’s noxious fumes. The battery is a 68.0-kilowatt-hour (usable) lithium ion unit, but Ford isn’t sharing exactly how long Pro Power Onboard will draw from it.
Speaking of that battery, if you’re looking at it and thinking, ‘That ain’t enough, Chief,’ I’m right there with you. But the needs of commercial businesses are different from retail customers. So while the longest-range Transit can cover only 126 miles, a relative pittance in this day and age, Ford says it’s enough because the average commercial van in the United States drives just 74 miles per day.
Ford also geared the charging performance toward commercial customers. Through its Ford Pro program, the Blue Oval is providing businesses with consultants that can determine the best charging strategy, whether it be at-home chargers for employees, banks of cloud-connected 48-amp level two chargers for fleet depots, or access to the FordPass charging network. The first two options will recharge the E-Transit’s battery in 8.2 hours. The third takes advantage of the modest 115.0-kilowatt DC charge rate, which will charge the battery from 15 to 80 percent in 34 minutes, or a decent enough lunch break.”
— Brandon Turkus, motor1.com
“Add the battery pack beneath the load floor, which lowers the unloaded center of gravity by about a foot, and you’ve suddenly got a large van that not only exits roundabouts like a silent rocket but also does a good job of keeping itself flat and under control when scything about them. Beware taking on the hurrying courier in one of these.
The space under the bonnet isn’t empty – that’s where Ford has stashed all the control systems and added a crash structure the engineers call the ‘mega brace’, which replicates structural role of the combustion engine in a front-end smash – but the nose feels lighter and keener to turn.
Probably of more relevance to most drivers, however, is that the independent rear brings greater comfort over bumpy surfaces. The back remains a little bouncy when unloaded, but even the addition of a modest payload brings this quickly under control.”
— CJ Hubbard, brk
“There’s no learning curve with the E-Transit, and that’s exactly how Ford wants it. The gasoline-powered version of the Transit is America’s No. 1 selling medium-duty business van. Tens of thousands of people work in them every day at businesses ranging from owner-operator food trucks to utilities and massive delivery services. I recently drove a pair of E-Transits in the California wine country, where three grape growers will test the vehicles and Ford’s far-reaching system to manage charging, maintenance and more.
The E-Transit sneers at look-at-me features like disappearing door handles and steering yokes.
Why? It’s a tool, not a toy. Time spent figuring out fancy new features and controls is time not working or getting to work, and that’s lost income.
There’s plenty new in the E-Transit, but Ford makes it almost unconsciously simple, with the exception of a chiding electronic voice that delivers messages like, ‘Unless in an emergency, try to avoid sudden braking. Looking ahead and braking early can help.’
There’s no button inviting you to experiment with different levels of regenerative braking, as you’ll find in many personal use EVs.
Instead, regeneration — the term for recharging the battery slightly while slowing down — happens when you press on the brake. Press harder and you get a second, higher level of regeneration. If you want the most regen, a setting that slows the vehicle dramatically when you’re off the accelerator pedal, press the “L” button in the gear selector. There isn’t a low gear, but max regen mimics one by slowing the vehicle noticeably, though not to a complete stop.
If you do pay attention, though, you’ll notice plenty of differences. More power when you accelerate. Enough to trigger another scolding from the energy-conscious electronic nanny. Smooth, easy acceleration uses less energy, helping the E-Transit achieve its rated range of 126 miles on a fully charged battery.
The other big difference between this Transit and the gasoline-powered model: nearly silent operation. There’s no sound or vibration from the engine — a very pleasant change in a van where the noisy engine is often just inches from the driver’s knee. The EV is so quiet it emits a forklift-style beeping when it is moving at neighborhood speeds to alert children and joggers.”
— Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press
“A slight step up into the cabin of the E-Transit won’t bother many unless you’re doing it dozens of times per day, and some will. That aside, once into the driver’s seat, which was electrically adjustable in the version we tried, there’s excellent visibility out of the front, and the side mirrors provide a decent view of what’s going on behind.
The roof-mounted reversing camera is better to give a wide-angle view of the area you’re reversing into. Ford also offers a digital rearview mirror on most models.
For many van drivers, the interior is not only about driving; it often doubles up as a mobile office, and the E-Transit provides sufficient space for getting the paperwork done between jobs. A small work surface folds down from the center seatback for this purpose, though it’s not what you’d call a desk, and there are better examples in other commercial vehicles.
Storage areas are dotted throughout the cabin, such as a shelf across the roof and on top of the dashboard. The latter includes a USB-C charge port and one of the two 12-volt sockets in the cabin, though a dedicated place for keeping a mobile phone or, better still, a wireless charging pad, would be a great add-on.
The E-Transit may be a new addition to the [lineup] but sitting inside it reminds you that this model is starting to show its age, having been launched in 2013. Reworked instrument dials show power usage and battery remaining and there’s also a TFT digital display with the trip computer information and a push-button starter.
Being electric means it has an automatic drive selector rather than a manual gearbox, with drive, reverse and park chosen via a rotary controller similar to that found in Ford’s passenger cars.
However, one thing we discovered is that the electric parking brake doesn’t automatically apply as it does on some passenger cars when the ignition is turned off.”
— Dave Humphreys, The Sunday Times of London
“It sounded like a drum on wheels pulling out of a bumpy driveway, just like any empty cargo van. But the ride quality over uneven, back-road pavement was better than I’d expected (or recalled) from an E-Transit, and the perky, quiet feel once underway underscored how much of the baked-in impression of big vans comes from vibration-prone engines and the shudder of gears changing.
The pleasant ride is likely the happy result of the battery pack’s placement. The E-Transit’s 68-kwh liquid-cooled battery pack is very closely related inside to the smaller pack used in the Ford Mustang Mach-E — with cells sourced from an LG facility in Poland — but with a different outside case. The battery pack is essentially bolted under the frame but isolated from it, with crash protection added to the sides. Altogether, Ford says that the pack is attached to its cradle with ‘a unique vibration isolation system.’
Its onboard charger permits 10.5 kw, for a full charge in about eight hours (at 48A), and it can reach 115 kw in CCS-format DC fast-charging, allowing a 15 percent to 80 percent charge in 34 minutes. The charge port is right at the front of the vehicle, and it’s Plug and Charge compatible, meaning drivers won’t have to carry company cards for charging
There are some obvious strengths in the layout, versus an approach that unifies the pack with the structure. Here, Ford could easily sub in a different-sized battery pack, for instance, and fleet operators could potentially change their mind on battery packs if multiple sizes were to become available.”
— Bengt Halvorson, Green Car Reports