Please, Ford, Give Us the Electric Transit Van
This is not an action movie hero as the colors imply. It’s the foreign market 2024 Ford E-Transit Custom.Photo: Ford
Ford has debuted the latest electric version of its best-selling commercial vehicle in the UK, the Ford E-Transit. But the overseas Ford Pro division is holding onto the 2024 Ford E-Transit Custom for itself; Ford will not be releasing this new EV on the U.S. market, which is woeful.
The U.S. equivalent in terms of commercial vehicles seems to be the F-150 Lightning Pro. Don’t get me wrong; the F150 Lightning is great but it’s not a van, and the currently available full-size EV Transit we get here is great, too, but it’s not a sport van. The U.S. Transit neither looks like the future of electrified fleets, nor does it speak to the culture of van enthusiasts like this one.
Photo: Ford
The latest E-Transit Custom is a sleek EV that could easily double as a well-designed van regardless of its commercial designation. It looks almost like a busier Ford Fiesta Van, but with more heft. Slap some white racing stripes over its roof and hood, and it’d hardly look out of place next to a couple of Mustangs. And it’s an EV, so its torque could let it keep pace momentarily, just before it turns into the local delivery hub to pick up more boxes or top up its battery.
The E-Transit comes equipped with DC fast-charging and full towing capability, according to Ford. But the carmaker doesn’t specify how towing will affect the E-Transit’s estimated range of up to 263 miles. That’s a pretty decent range, exceeding the standard F-150 Lightning by some 33 miles. It’s still not as much as the extended range F-150 Lightning, which goes up to 320 miles per charge.
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Since it is a Pro version of the Transit, it’ll come with the same onboard AC power features as Ford’s EV trucks. So workers will be able to plug in tools at the job site. Ford says this new E-Transit model is part of its push to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the UK and the rest of Europe by 2035, but nowhere did new emission laws abroad say that EVs had to look this good. Please, Ford, bring this electric van to the States.
Photo: Ford
Photo: Ford
Photo: Ford
