Electric delivery van coming your way.
Ford
Back in March, Ford confirmed plans to build an all-electric Transit van. This high-roof hauler should offer plenty of versatility and zero tailpipe emissions, making it perfect for commercial customers, particularly delivery companies, which are working overtime during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been a while since we first heard about this van, but on Thursday, Ford confirmed its all-electric Transit will finally be unveiled on Nov. 12 and the automaker shared its name: the E-Transit. Not the most original thing, but so goes it.
This 2022-model-year vehicle should offer plenty of smart features, from 4G connectivity and lane-keeping assist to automatic high beams and pedestrian detection. Unfortunately, it’s still too early to say what range this battery-powered schlepper will offer or what sort of power it’ll have, but we should know a lot more in just a couple of weeks. If this amped-up Transit is half as good as its combustion-powered counterpart, it should be pretty swell.
To get a feel for what people are looking for in the future, Ford, in partnership with Google, recently conducted a survey of customers, including 1,000 in the US and another 1,000 in both the UK and Germany. Surprisingly, more than 60% of Americans and some 68% of Britons care about their carbon footprint, specifically the environmental impact of having products delivered to their homes. Hey, Amazon Prime is convenient, but free two-day shipping isn’t always a good thing.
If price and shipping times were the same, around half or those surveyed by Ford said they’d be open to using more environmentally friendly delivery companies. Finally — and this is a bit surprising — nearly half of Americans and Brits would be willing to wait longer for their products to be delivered if they came via a zero-emissions vehicle. Clearly, people are aware of — and open to — electrically operated commercial vehicles.
The battery-powered 2022 Transit van, which will be built in America, is another part of Ford’s $11.5 billion investment in electrified vehicles, which includes other models like the Mustang Mach-E SUV and ever-popular F-150 pickup truck.
