E-Transit Courier becomes its smallest commercial EV; will be built alongside Puma
FELIX PAGE
Ford’s all-out electric reinvention is gathering pace as it introduces the new E-Transit Courier, the crucial electric variant of its smallest van.
The second-generation Courier arrives hot on the heels of the new Explorer SUV to join the mid-sized E-Transit Custom and full-sized E-Transit. It will be built at Ford’s Craiova plant in Romania alongside the Puma crossover, with which it shares a platform. Turkish joint-venture partner Ford Otosan has taken ownership of the Craiova plant and invested some £430 million in adapting the second production line, on which the Ecosport crossover was previously built, to produce the new small van.
Combustion-engined variants – 1.0-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel units shared with the Puma – will arrive first, in the third quarter of this year, followed by the EV around a year later. A passenger variant, badged Tourneo, will arrive later, complete with EV option and set to be Ford’s cheapest dedicated passenger car in Europe following the impending demise of the Fiesta.
Full technical details of the new commercial EV will be revealed closer to launch, but Ford has already confirmed that it is powered by a 134bhp, 214lb ft motor on the front axle, can reach a top speed of 90mph and can charge at 100kW, giving a 10-80% top-up time of less than 35 minutes.
The new baby Transit is “bigger in every dimension”, according to design boss Amko Leenarts, touting a 2900-litre cargo bay (up 25%) and – in electric form – a 700kg payload (up 118kg over the outgoing diesel variant) and 750kg towing capacity. There is also a 44-litre ‘frunk’ for stowing charging cables and other smaller items and an optional load-through bulkhead that allows the Courier to carry items up to 1.8m long.
The cabin features a completely new dashboard modelled on that used by Ford’s latest passenger car line-up. It has a 12.0in digital instrument cluster and a same-size central touchscreen running the latest version of the firm’s Sync infotainment software. Ford says there is also “a huge amount of optimised storage, including space for tablets, paperwork and, of course, that important cup of coffee”.
E-TRANSIT REVEALS PUMA EV SECRETS
Early details of the new E-Transit Courier give strong clues to the make-up of its passenger-carrying platform-mate, the Ford Puma EV. Ford says
