Ford’s welltravelled van gets fitted for batteries

estimated range of 200km per charge and a starting price of $US45,000 — is scheduled for release in late 2021 for modelyear 2022.

Ford estimates the ETransit could cost owners 40% less over the vehicle's lifetime compared to a petrolpowered Transit, and notes that having 90% fewer components means likely savings on repairs.

‘‘Commercial and retail (customers) are different,’’ Ted Cannis, general manager of Ford’s North American commercial business, said. ‘‘In retail land, we buy it because we might use it.’’

Not so with commercial customers: ‘‘They use math and data to get their business more efficient, more effective for customers, and that’s a big difference there. So when they’re making this decision on the electric side, they’re making a total costofownership decision.’’

Ford chief executive Jim Farley has touted the growth potential of expanding the services the car maker offers to customers, creating new revenue streams from datadriven services that customers purchase on a subscription basis.

The ETransit will offer customers a slew of software and datadriven services to help them better manage their fleets, individual vehicles and drivers.

The electric van also comes with the option for an onboard generator that provides up to 2.4 kilowatts of power.

Ford studied 50 million telematics kilometres to decide on the battery capacity for the ETransit. They found the average van customer travels about 120km per day. The battery range will depend on the payload and configuration.

The maximum payload for the cargo van is 1700kg, and for the chassis and cutaway versions is up to two tonnes.

There will be three roof heights and three body lengths, and different cargo, cutaway and chassis versions. — TCA