Ford Motor Company has introduced an improved E-Transit for the U.S. market in the form of the E-Transit Enhanced Range. As expected, the biggest change is a 32 percent increase in range. The zero-emission van sports an 89-kWh battery, which allows for a range of up to 159 miles (256 kilometers) on a full charge.
Ford has also worked its magic on the charging system. More specifically, the dual on-board chargers offer a 22 percent faster charge time when using the Ford Pro 80-amp Series 2 Charger. Now usable while the vehicle is moving, the 2.4-kW The Pro Power Onboard system transforms the van into a mobile power source.
Aiming for a plethora of vocations, the E-Transit with Enhanced Range is built in Claycomo, Missouri. Available as a cargo van, cutaway van or chassis cab, the zero-emissions workhorse offers long and extended length options, along with low, medium and high roof options. Exclusively rear-wheel drive, the E-Transit with Enhanced Range develops 198 kilowatts or 266 horsepower.
Peak torque is 317 pound-feet (430 Nm), which is better than the internal combustion Transit with the standard 3.5-liter PFDi engine. Stepping up to the 3.5-liter EcoBoost six-cylinder gets you 410 pound-feet (556 Nm) at 2,500 rpm, along with 310 force-fed horsepower. Because the electric motors develop peak torque almost instantaneously, the range-enhanced E-Transit is a different beast than the EcoBoost-powered Transit and its free-breathing sibling.
Photo: Ford
And what about pricing? Well, this is where it gets interesting because the E-Transit’s MSRP is very close to the Transit’s. At the time of writing, the combustion-engine van is $47,165 versus $51,095 for the all-electric model. However, the combustion-engine Transit DC-AC line is more affordable at $43,460 without cargo.
The aforementioned $51,095 starting price puts the E-Transit just above the $48,185 F-Series Chassis Cab and significantly below the $69,685 F-650 medium-duty truck lineup. The E-Transit cargo van, cutaway van, and chassis cab are exclusively two-passenger affairs. In terms of wheelbase, both the long and extended options are listed at 148.0 inches (3,759 millimeters). Payload capacity, on the other hand, differs: 3,776 pounds (1,713 kilograms) and 3,330 (1,510), respectively.
As for roof height, Ford quotes 83.6 inches for the low roof, 100.8 for the medium roof, and 110.1 inches for the high roof. Needless to say, the latter offers the most cargo volume at 487.3 cubic feet, which translates to 13,799 liters in metric. Of course, driving range depends on configuration.
In contrast to the advertised 159 miles for the long, low-roof trim, more capable configurations are good for up to 148, 143, and 142 miles, respectively. In addition to the increase in overall height, the increased base curb weight can also be blamed for this drop in driving range. For the extended-range battery, base curb weight estimates start at 6,189 pounds (2,807 kilograms) and top out at 6,635 (3,010) for the extended-length high-roof.