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For a couple of generations, the Ford Econoline van has been as much a part of the landscape as, well, a Lincoln Town Car. But like the Town Car, the Econoline -- now known as the E-Series -- is getting killed off.
It's not because of flagging sales. The E-Series has owned the big commercial van segment for more than three decades. Rather, Ford wants to go to a Sprinter-style, European high-roof van. It will get 25% better fuel economy, is far lighter than the E Series, and Ford can see efficiencies from having a single global design.
The Econoline is sure to be missed by many when it goes away in 2013. The Kansas City plant where it is built is going to switch over to making the Transits, as the new van will be called worldwide. The Econoline was popular not only for cable guys and plumbers, but as a car pool get-to-work vehicle as well.
For the moment, Ford's job is to get the Transit, popular in Europe, ready for America. It is being put through three months of intense durability testing including climbing the curbs on the specialized test road at the proving grounds. The Transit will climb the curbs thousands of times on top of navigating the bumpy and pothole-ridden road surface vehicles are sometimes required to endure, Ford says. Shouldn't be hard: Ford has already made 6 million of them -- just none for the U.S.
The replacement for Ford's boxy E-series full-size van will be something entirely different, judging by the Tourneo van the automaker will unveil in England next month. Ford just released photos.
The sleek Tourneo is a far cry from the boxy E-series, but Ford say the European van provides a window into the styling of the Transit. A fairly narrow window: While the basic design will stay, the American Transit will have more of a "Built Ford Tough" no-nonsense truck look, as opposed to the swirly-styled Euro version.
The E-Series is the newer name for what used to be to be called the Ford Econoline, which is to this day a mainstay vehicle for many van poolers, plumbers and others.
The American version of the Transit that will eventually replace the E-series and be produced at Ford's plant in Claycomo, Mo. We say "eventually" because Ford plans to sell both for awhile, probably to let buyers get used to the idea that the replacement is far more practical and fuel-efficient.
The Tourneo is the middle-sized of the three commercial vans Ford sells in Europe. It has front-wheel-drive, but the larger Transit will have rear-drive to carry bigger loads when it goes into production in Missouri and Europe.
Is it just us, or does that name sound a lot like Torino, as in Ford Torino, the midsize sedan that the Blue Oval offered in the U.S. in the late 1960s?
The Tourneo's space-age looks are a far cry from the utilitarian design of Ford's previous European vans. The Tourneo goes on sale in Europe later this year.
In terms of dramatic changes in transportation, this one is you'll surely see: Ford today revealed the new Transit van that will gradually take the place of the E-Series in the U.S.
Whether its a church group on an outing or a plumber making another house call, this is the vehicle likely to take over from the venerable E-Series, formerly call the Econoline, that has been a mainstay of the American road for nearly a half century. The E-Series will still be made, it's just that its days are numbered.
The Transit looks a lot like Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, formerly the Dodge Sprinter, which is big and has an economical engine. The vans, a mainstay in Europe for decade, offer more space inside. Transit is being unveiled in Europe in keeping with Ford's philosophy of trying to build more vehicles that can be sold the world over.
"These new products will carry more, work harder, last longer, and cost our customers less to operate,," said Barb Samardzich, a vice president for Ford of Europe.
In North America, customers will have a choice of a 3.5-liter turbocharged engine or a diesel. Each will be rear-wheel drive and offer at least 25% better fuel economy than a comparable E-Series. Multiple roof heights and wheelbases will be available. North American Transit vans will be manufactured in Kansas City, alongside the Ford F-150.
The Ford Transit Connect, a do-it-all vehicle that has already shaken up the small commercial van market, is getting a new look. It will appear even more like a car.
The utility vehicle with a split personality looks arguably more like a Ford Focus or an Escape from the front with the latest refresh.
Ford says the Transit Connect will offer short and long wheelbases and a flexible cargo area. It will get gas engines in the U.S., not diesels like Europe.
Since its introduced a couple of years ago, Transit Connect has made a big impact, whether it's work vans or taxicabs.
Ford introduced its family of Transit vans on Friday. The full-size, futuristic Transit will join the smaller Transit Connect to fulfill all your hauling needs.
The Transit will arrive with a choice of three body lengths, two wheelbases and three roof heights. In its maximum passenger-carrying specification, the Transit will carry 15 people. It will be offered in van, wagon, chassis cab and cutaway versions.
Engine choices will include Ford's 3.7-liter V6, the EcoBoost V6 and a new 3.2-liter Power Stroke diesel. The 3.7-liter V6 will also be offered with a natural gas/liquid propane kit, to assist customers in making the conversion. The same engine is also optimized for E85. All engines work with a six-speed automatic transmission.
The interior of the Transit can be decked out with racks, bins, shelving and other storage spaces, while the driver and passenger are treated to Ford's SYNC system, navigation and MyFordTouch.
The full-size Transit will go on sale in the fall of 2014.
The revamped Transit Connect, which now sports the nose from the Ford Escape, will offer two four-cylinder engines, a 2.5-liter and a 1.6-liter EcoBoost option. The 2.5 can also accept the natural gas prep package. Again, six-speed automatic transmissions are standard.
The Ford Transit Connect is offered in two wheelbase lengths, in XL and XLT trims, with a 1,600-pound payload and 130 cubic feet of cargo space. A second row of seats is optional.
The Connect comes standard with MyKey, which allows owners or fleet administrators to limit maximum speed and radio volume, while Ford Work Solutions Crew Chief package is optional. That system enables bosses to monitor the vans in real time, including location, speed and excess idle time.
The 2014 Ford Transit Connect will go on sale at the end of next year.
It’s been decades since Supervan 3 debuted with a Cosworth V6 engine and a throwback Ford Racing livery. Supervan 2 was a Ford C100 Group C racer with a Mk2 Transit body on top. The original Supervan had Ford’s GT40 engine with a Mk1 Transit body shell on top. While it isn’t officially called “Supervan 4", you can go to a Ford Commercial dealership right now and order up a brand new Transit with a 400 lb-ft turbocharged 3.5-liter V6, and a 3.73 rear axle ratio with a limited slip from the factory.
Sure, the thing is still only capable of a 15 second quarter mile, and will run from 0-60 in 6.8 seconds, but there was a time where that was equivalent to supercar levels of performance. With a stock 310 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, the Ecoboost Transit is pretty impressive. Grab a two-seater short-wheelbase low-roof model with alloy wheels and you’ve got a super hauler with leather seating, decent audio options, and a cool look for less than your average new SUV. It’s even available in British Racing Green.
Even better than all of that, however, is the fact that there are already dozens of tuners offering upgrades for the 3.5-liter Ecoboost, as it’s the same one available in the F150. With just a tune, Livernois Motorsports claims they were able to get 428 horsepower and 469 lb-ft of torque from this engine on 93 octane fuel. Now we’re talking Supervan status. That’s a van that will haul anything you want it to, including ass. I want one right now!
Now I’m dreaming of an engine build with bigger turbos, more intercooler, more fuel, and an E85 fuel tune. Why am I dreaming about vans? It’s Van Time.
The lead-acid battery hasn’t changed much over the last 160 years, outside of a few small tweaks here and there. However, the sheer amount of technology present in modern vehicles has forced some innovation in that regard, leading to the creation of the absorbed glass-mat (AGM) battery. Now, sources familiar with the matter have told Ford Authority that the 2022 Ford E-Transit will come standard with a single AGM 12-volt battery.
The 2022 Ford E-Transit will come standard with a single 70 amp-hour 12-volt AGM battery, which is the same battery that is standard on Transit models equipped with Ford’s 3.5L EcoBoost V6. Meanwhile, Transit van and wagon models equipped with FoMoCo’s naturally-aspirated 3.5L V6 will come equipped with a non-AGM 70 amp hour battery.
AGM batteries are designed to last longer than traditional lead-acid batteries, offer three times as many starts (more than 60,000), recharge faster, feature more durable construction, are safer to handle, and contain special valves designed to protect the battery’s lifespan. AGM batteries accomplish this thanks to glass mats that cushion ultra-thin lead plates and help squeeze more lead inside the battery, which results in more power.
The author of this may have forgotten about Rivian vans.
Ford has begun delivering the first battery-electric E-Transit vans to customers, with the vehicles produced at the Kansas City Assembly Plant. The start of deliveries marks an important milestone in Ford's electrification strategy, and is taking place ahead of the start of production of the Ford F-150 Lightning later this spring.
The automaker offers the E-Transit in a variety of versions, including three wheelbases and three roof heights, as well as in cutaway and chassis cab forms, with a top estimated range of 126 miles. All versions of the van use a 68-kWh battery powering a single rear-mounted motor producing 266 hp and 317 lb-ft of torque. The model starts at $43,295 in cutaway form, prior to destination charges and the $7500 federal tax credit, while the lowest-priced cargo van starts at $47,185 before destination charges and incentives.
Ford says it currently has orders from over 300 business customers for over 10,000 vans, with Ford estimating it will have the global capacity to produce 600,000 battery-electric vehicles per year by the end of next year. The automaker has invested $100 million in the Kansas City plant, which is Ford's first U.S. facility to assemble both the vehicles and their batteries in-house. Ford is trying to boost E-Transit production.
"E-Transit is a testament to the fact that an electric commercial fleet is no longer a vision of tomorrow, but a productivity-boosting modern reality," said Kumar Galhotra, Ford's president of The Americas & International Markets Group.
For now, the E-Transit has no direct competitors in the US, with the exception of GM's BrightDrop EV600, production of which began in late 2021. But GM's Ultium-based EV600 and the EV410 are almost a year away from full-volume production. So it might be a while before we see BrightDrop vans offered in a comparable number of versions and outfitted for a variety of tasks.
Meanwhile, Stellantis is certainly building battery-electric work vans at the moment, but it's only offering them in Europe under Opel, Vauxhall and Citroen brands, and is not expected to offer a version of that particular vehicle family stateside. Rather, Stellantis will launch a battery-electric Ram ProMaster model in 2023. In effect, Ford will have this segment largely to itself for about a year, which is a pretty good position to be in.
"Ford Pro is committed to driving businesses forward—from the Transit vans and F-150 trucks assembled right here in America by American workers, to the many businesses it will help grow, to the communities that benefit from the jobs and revenue," said Tim Baughman, general manager, Ford Pro North America.
Ford Pro, the Blue Oval's dedicated commercial arm founded in 2021, first teased its new electric workhorse in the second half of April. At that moment, most of us believed the LED light bar belonged to a Tourneo Custom without a combustion engine. However, that's not actually the case as the EV in question is the E-Transit Custom, slotting below the bigger E-Transit.
Compared to the ICE-powered Transit Custom, the biggest changes have been applied at the front where the E-Transit Custom gets a shiny grille flanked by fully redesigned LED headlights. The right side of the bumper incorporates the charging port, while on the left side of the grille sits the "E" badge. The new graphics of the headlights are mirrored at the rear where the "E Transit" and "Custom" badges are blacked out.
Ford remains tight-lipped about the technical specifications, only saying the E-Transit Custom can cover up to 380 kilometers (236 miles) between charges. Bear in mind the range figure is not final, but rather the company's estimation based on the WLTP cycle. It remains to be seen whether it will utilize the same 68-kWh battery pack as the E-Transit. We do know it supports DC fast charging, which in the case of its bigger brother translates to 115 kW.
Additional details will be released in September, and in the meantime, Autocar reports Ford Pro plans to sell the E-Transit Custom with the same 181- and 265-horsepower electric motors as seen in the E-Transit. Both are located at the rear axle and generate a virtually instant torque of 318 pound-feet (431 Newton-meters). That should translate to a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) run in less than seven seconds and a maximum speed of approximately 85 mph (137 km/h).
The British magazine also has it on good authority the E-Transit Custom is the next Ford to get the SYNC 4 infotainment system with a stately 12-inch screen to echo the bigger electric van. The battery pack will double as an energy source to power external devices courtesy of the vehicle-to-load charging functionality at up to 2.3 kW.
Although it's being revealed today, production of the E-Transit Custom won't commence until 2023. Assembly will take place at the Ford Otosan facility in Kocaeli, Turkey where an all-electric next-gen Volkswagen Transporter will also be built. This is the second out of a total of five EVs from Ford Pro to go on sale in Europe by 2024.
The Ford Transit Connect is a small van that gets lost in the land of big trucks and SUVs. It provides a versatile platform for tradespeople, hauling a surprising amount of cargo or up to seven passengers. It's ideal as a small workhorse but never caught on in the US. Rumors of its demise were already circling, but today Ford made it official and announced it would no longer be sold in the US after 2023.
As a practical and functional vehicle, the Ford Transit Connect is good but unremarkable. Manufactured in Valencia, Spain, it made its way to the US as a 2010 model and looked a bit like a tall version of the first-generation Ford Fusion. The second generation debuted in 2012 and received a facelift in 2019. Ford planned to bring a third-generation version of the Transit Connect to the US before pulling the plug.
Originally Ford wanted to shift production of the Transit Connect to the Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico. Once there, it would have shared a platform with the Ford Maverick and the Bronco Sport. According to a press release, Ford's decision to cancel these plans is based on its "efforts to reduce global manufacturing cost and complexity, alongside decreased demand for the compact van segment."
The news is hardly surprising. Reports of the Transit Connect's demise started last August when Automotive News reported that “three people with knowledge” claimed Ford planned to discontinue it. Small vans never caught on in the US the way small trucks and SUVs like the aforementioned Maverick and Bronco Sport have. Ford's decision follows the ones made by Ram to drop the ProMaster City van and GM and Nissan to discontinue their small vans in the US market.
Ford also confirmed on Tuesday that the Transit Connect would continue to be built in Spain and sold in European markets. In addition to the Transit Connect, Ford makes a full-sized Transit van, a version of which is manufactured at the Claycomo plant outside Kansas City, Missouri, that will continue to be sold in the US.
12-08-2011, 05:17 AM
