The Ford E-Transit is to begin fleet trails in the UK and Europe with some of the biggest names in home delivery and construction.
Trails of the electric Transit van will begin in spring 2022 with fleet operators in the postal, municipal and utilities, last mile and grocery delivery sectors all using the vehicle in their real world operations.
Germany, Norway and the UK will play host to a complete range of E-Transit models from panel vans, double cabs and chassis cabs with names such as Balfour Beatty, DHL Express in the UK, DPD and Ocado taking part. Also trailing the vans will be Recover Nordic, AWB waste disposal, the City of Cologne and Norwegian Post.
Read: Ford E-Transit review
In keeping with the sort of work they are to be doing, a number of the trial vehicles have been converted. Ford-approved Qualified Vehicle Modifiers have added refrigerated, dropside and caged tipper bodies.
The latest Ford E-Transit fleet trail comes off the back of successful trials with the Ford Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid which was tested extensively by existing Ford fleets, covering more than 150,000 miles and operating in zero-emission mode for 75% of their time while in central London.
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“We want to demonstrate that helping customers reduce their environmental impact can go hand-in-hand with improving their productivity,” said Dave Petts, market lead, urban electrified vans, Ford of Europe. “Real-world mileage in customer hands helps us to show the business benefits that E-Transit can deliver, as well as providing valuable feedback on usage patterns and charging behaviour so that we can refine the operating experience. We firmly believe in treating our customers like family, and this programme highlights the value we place on those close partnerships.”
The E-Transit prototypes will be in the field for six to 12 months with each of the customers.
The arrival of the electric Transit van is part of Ford’s overall plans to electrify its entire vehicle range. The Ford E-Transit will be the first fully electric commercial vehicle in the Ford line-up when it goes on sale in 2023.
