Ford E-Transit Revealed, Including Range, Specs, Price And More

After 55 years of making Transit family vehicles, Ford is ready to launch series production of an all-electric version.

Ford has unveiled today the E-Transit, that will be available for sale in North America in late 2021, produced at the Kansas City Assembly Plant. Europe will also get electric Transit, with slight changes and produced locally in Europe.

The E-Transit is basically an all-electric version of the Ford Transit. It will offer the same interior cargo dimensions and standard mounting points as the conventional models. Customers will be able to choose between three roof heights and three body lengths, as well as cargo, cutaway and chassis cab versions. However, at this point there is no passenger version.

The target maximum payload is up to 3,800 pounds (1,724 kg) for the cargo van and up to 4,290 pounds (1,946) for cutaway versions.

Battery and range

The E-Transit will be equipped with a 67 kWh battery pack (usable capacity), located underneath the vehicle body. We guess that the total capacity is roughly 70 kWh or more.

The battery pack size is not particularly big, but as we understand, Ford wanted to keep the payload high and didn't want to escalate the price. The cells (from LG Chem) and are shared with Ford Mustang Mach-E.

According to Ford's estimations, range in the case of the low-roof cargo van variant should be around 126 miles (202.7 km). We assume that it might be lower in high-roof versions. Anyway, Ford's data from 30 million miles of customer driving indicate that most of them drives up to around 74 miles a day.

The electric motor output is 198 kW (266 hp) and 430 Nm (317 lb.-ft.) of torque.

"Ford engineers redesigned E-Transit’s rear-wheel drive and rear suspension to optimize cargo space, creating a heavy-duty semi-trailing arm suspension system enabling better steering precision and more confident handling, plus better traction both in laden and unladen conditions."

Ford E-Transit (left) and Ford Mustang Mach-E (right)
Ford F-150 Electric prototype (left) and Ford E-Transit (right)

Price

The 2022 Ford E-Transit to be available from "under $45,000", which we guess is about a third more than the base conventional version.

An important thing is that the scheduled maintenance costs for the all-electric Transit are estimated to be 40% less than the average scheduled maintenance costs for a gas-powered 2020 Transit over eight years/100,000 miles.

The combination of battery/range and price shows clearly that Ford intends to, at least initially, provide just enough range for urban applications, without escalating the price.

Ted Cannis, Ford North America general manager of commercial business said:

“This makes E-Transit ideal for commercial customers who know their drive routes and often work in urban environments. Affordability is key, and our customers buy only what they need to get the job done. E-Transit provides ample range at a price that makes the transition to electric easy. And Ford is just getting started.”

There should be plenty of customers that will be happy with 126 miles of range, while all the others will have to wait for higher capacity options at some point in the future (but Ford was silent about that).

Charging

The Ford E-Transit will come standard with a Ford Mobile Charger (for slow charging from 120-volt and 240-volt outlet). Using an optional Ford Connected Charge Station it can fully recharge in eight hours (about 15 miles of range per hour).

There will also be DC fast charging capability. According to Ford, using a 115 kW DC charger (we assume that 115 kW is the peak), the E-Transit can replenish 30 miles of range in 10 minutes (45 miles in 15 minutes), assuming the cargo van low-roof models.

One of the most important options will be the Pro Power Onboard - a 2.4 kW electric outlet to power tools and equipment on job sites and on the go - "That’s enough capability to power everything from belt sanders to circular saws."

Features

The E-Transit will get Ford's latest connectivity and software solutions, including standard SYNC 4, featuring a standard 12-inch touch screen. From the EV perspective, an important feature is the remote pre-conditioning to prepare the vehicle before driving and save range.

"When activated7 [FordPass Connect option], the standard 4G LTE modem unlocks available data subscriptions and delivers seamless connectivity to help commercial vehicle customers manage and optimize fleet efficiency. A range of dedicated electric vehicle services are available through Ford Commercial Solutions, including electric vehicle data enhancements from Ford Telematics and Ford Data Services8 [subscription services].

Remote services like vehicle pre-conditioning – which optimizes cabin temperatures while E-Transit is plugged in to optimize battery efficiency – are also available, as well as charging reports that enable fleet managers to reimburse drivers who bring their vans home in the evening.

E-Transit also brings SYNC® 4 communications and entertainment technology9 to commercial vehicles, featuring a standard 12-inch touch screen that’s easy to use, plus enhanced voice recognition and cloud-enhanced navigation. With SYNC over-the-air updates, E-Transit software and SYNC features will stay at the forefront of performance."

Ford E-Transit specs:

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