Ford’s all-electric version of the Transit van, the E-Transit, will be hitting the market early next year. Ahead of this release, several companies, including Penske Truck Leasing and National Grid, are receiving pre-production E-Transit vans to incorporate into their fleets and test for their regular operations.
The E-Transit is the first all-electric cargo van from a North American full-line automaker. It’s built alongside the gas-powered Transit at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant and was created to be widely applicable in multiple industries, including delivery, maintenance, rental, telecom and utilities. The pre-production units will be offering the selected companies an opportunity to adjust to electric vehicles ahead of the game. They will also be providing some valuable feedback to Ford about how electric vans can change fleet operations of these companies and increase efficiency, and about the usability of Ford Pro Intelligence fleet management and Ford Pro Charging Solutions.
Penske Truck Leasing’s plans for their new E-Transits include assessing the van’s capabilities and driving experience, and charging strategies, for rentals and for small-to-medium commercial businesses. If all goes well, Penske has plans to incorporate electric vehicles into their operations across the country. One of the vans is already at work in the Reading, Pennsylvania area.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Ford Pro on the introduction and real-world testing of these new electric vehicles as the first truck rental and leasing company to do so,” said Art Vallely, president of Penske Truck Leasing. “We expect to see strong utilization and interest from customers making final-mile deliveries, regional deliveries, and eventually consumer use for smaller household moves.”
National Grid’s pre-production models of the E-Transit are the low-roof cargo van version. They will be tested on the same home meter-reading routes as National Grid’s current gas-powered vans.
“We are proud to be the first energy company in the Northeast to test out Ford’s electric van and collaborate with Ford Pro,” said Badar Khan, president of National Grid, U.S. “Over the next decade, National Grid will be moving to a 100% electric fleet for our light-duty vehicles and working to replace medium- and heavy-duty vehicles with sustainable options. Last year, we began testing electric backhoes and this year, e-vans could bring us closer to our goal of net zero emissions by 2050.”
The feedback that Ford Pro receives from these test runs will be used to validate real-world performance in a variety of cases, including upfits, different temperatures and diverse driving environments. This data will assist Ford Pro in refining products as well as creating additional training tools.
“Our customers are telling us that they have ambitious sustainability goals to reduce their fleets’ carbon emissions through the integration of all-electric vehicles,” said Ford Pro CEO Ted Cannis. “E-Transit commercial vans and the supporting Ford Pro ecosystem, especially end-to-end charging, play a critical role in helping achieve those goals and transforming their business operations without disruption. Beyond supplying all-electric vehicles to customers, Ford Pro is helping businesses determine better solutions for energy management and fleet efficiency. Our services link to the vehicle and into the entire operational environment of the business, which is the only way EVs will stick. Anything else is just disruptive to their business bottom line.”