This week, Ford has announced its second all electric van – the new Ford E-Transit Custom. Ford already has the larger Ford E-Transit on sale over in the US and here in the UK and Europe, but generally for the roads here the Custom is a much more manageable size. Actually, when taking all vehicles into account, the Transit Custom is the best selling vehicle in the UK.
Ford has partnered up with Volkswagen for some of its new vans going forward. Out of the entire van market, nearly all the companies do some kind of platform sharing. For example, Under Stellantis, all the vans from Vauxhall, Peugeot, Fiat etc share the same platform and a lot of the same body panels. Even Mercedes and Renault share platforms for vans. However, for a long time both Volkswagen and Ford have been going their own way, but as both companies transition to becoming electric car companies, the need for sharing has been needed.
With the brand new E-Transit Custom, it’ll be built alongside the next Volkswagen Transporter and will mean Volkswagen commercial vehicles will be based on Fords and Ford will have access to the VW MEB platform for its upcoming electric cars.
However, while some electric cars are becoming more understated, such as the VW e-up and the new Vauxhall Corsa-e – Ford has decided to redesign the E-Transit Custom, with a much more modern design which makes it look more like the latest Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus.
Ford has not yet revealed much information about the full specifications, however it will be able to charge at DC fast-charging. Ford has also not said yet whether it’ll share the same 68kWh battery as the larger E-Transit. If it does, it’ll have either a 181bhp or 265bhp motor with 236 miles of range – but this is yet to be confirmed.
Ford is planning on revealing more details later this year in September, prices could be in between the standard combustionTransit Custom and the E-Transit, so it could be around £40,000.