When it comes to Electric Vehicles I’ve driven a lot. From the MG4 to the Porsche Taycan, I get it, and I know what it can be and how it can be a game-changer to drive. So when I took the keys to the Ford e-Transit Van for a week I knew I was in for something different. It didn’t disappoint.
I reckon I drove further than anyone else who’s reviewed this vehicle, I say that purely because I doubled the odometer in the week I had it. But I did drive in a way that the vehicle isn’t really intended to.
The Ford Transit Van is an iconic part of the roads, doing deliveries from point to point over decades of iterations in Australia.
This is the van you see driving to your local shops with deliveries, and big box stores use them for home deliveries too. So it’s designed for around town driving, stop start trips – I did a bit of that but then I took it on a road-trip, something it’s not designed for, but I figured would give me a real sense of it’s capabilities, handling and electric range.
How much range does the all-electric Ford e-Transit Van have?
On the box Ford will tell you the e-Transit van has a range of between 230 and 307km. I saw a figure on the dash of 291km range at one stage, but I suspect that was after it had sat for a while and been driving around the dealership yard a few times.
This has to be the lease efficient electric vehicle I’ve ever driven. The long-term trip meter was showing 31kWh per 100km driven.
Now for some context, a rough average for an EV is probably 15kWh per 100, there will be times in good regeneration and slow city driving you’ll see less, and in a good little rocket you might get 18-22kWh per 100 on the highway. Of course, it’s all throttle and condition dependent.
Out on the highways I was doing 35kWh per 100km, sometimes more, sometimes less. That’s a real simple way to onset range anxiety in a car with this kind of range.
On a drive like that you pretty quickly see the range estimate drop to the low 200’s. That’s fine. I knew it was coming.
The 450km drive is one I’ve made countless times in EVs. Normally it’s a one stop to charge, or perhaps two shorter stops. For this trip I planned three stops, around 130km between each one.
What I found was if I charged to 80%, I’d have around 200km range, and when I drove the 130km I’d be left with 40-60km range. The reason these figures are rough is because EV driving has so many variables. Temperature is one, but more critical is incline. For those uphill stints you will burn more electrons.
All of that is to say that around town, I’d expect you’ll get 250km range, while on the highways I’d not plan for more than 180km.
How long does it take to charge the Ford e-Transit Van?
Plugged into my Wallbox at home, charging at 11kW – it would be an 8 hour charge. If you pull into a decent fast-charger like Tesla you’ll get from 15-80% in just 34 minutes. Speaking from experience, the 50kW chargers on a lot of highway stops are much more of a punish, i found myself going from 20-80% in an hour.
How does it drive?
This thing is great to drive! For someone who is predominantly a car driver, the shift to the much higher driving position and wheel position is hard to adjust to, but once you do this whole experience is a bloody fantastic.
Remember, in a regular Diesel Ford Transit Van you’re sitting right behind the noisy and clunky engine and gearbox etc. There’s nothing of the sort in the e-Transit van.
No, there’s no neck-snapping off the line performance, but trust me – pull up at the lights alongside anyone – including a Tesla driver, and you’ll shock them. Punch it and you’ll get a far more instant torque delivery, but it’s subdued and kind-of linear overall.
I didn’t notice anything on the wheel about regeneration settings or drive modes, but a few clicks into the infotainment screen I did find Normal and Eco modes for the Drive Mode.
Eco Mode basically limited further that throttle response, and also pulled the top speed down to 110km/h. I found that a great highway mode, but – then I found myself wanting as I drove it like a car.
Out on the country roads when those overtaking lanes appeared plenty of cars didn’t expect to see a van cruise past them. But if you were going 90-95km/h in a 100 zone be sure I was going to fly past you. Flick it back into Normal drive mode and cruise on safely by.
One of the most interesting things to me was the lack of noise from the payload. I had boxes and bits back there and didn’t hear rattling or clanking. Even empty you normally hear bits and bobs but I heard nothing at all. This was a brilliantly quiet driving experience.
Can the Ford e-Transit van pack a load?
I’m not going to pretend to have load tested this to the extent an owner would need. But let’s just say if it didn’t have the badges and you didn’t hear it hum alongside you, you’d not know it was electric.
A well presented cargo bay, with six tie-down points around the floor. My only wish would be for there to be strapping points or fixtures at height as well – but instead we just secured straps to the frame.
It’s bloody enormous basically.
Diesel vs Electric – Which Ford Transit van?
Look, if you’re someone who will suffer range anxiety or plan some decent trips, forget it – this is all not for you.
But if you’re using a vehicle of this size day to day, and driving less than 200km a day, the e-Transit van will revolutionise your daily drives.
You will of course need either a fast charger at the end of your shift, at your depot, or an installed wall-charger at the overnight parking spot.
The price premium will be the kicker. I looked at a Diesel one of these for around $70k. This all-electric E-Transit van is currently $99,900 drive away – so it’s a big, big premium.
Far more of an electric premium than with cars.
But, at 200km a day, 45 weeks of the year, there’s $34,000 of Diesel saved in five years, let alone longer if you keep your vans longer than 5 years. You’re going to need a super efficient or affordable charging plan to get some benefit from that Diesel saving, but its possible.
Should I buy one?
I wouldn’t. Yet.
Loved it, but I just feel like it’s completely first generation. Some efficiencies in the drivetrain and battery technology in just a few years should mean a bigger battery and far more range, let’s just hope they can deliver that at the same price or less.
