SONOMA, Calif. – If a delivery driver can master a push-button starter and rotary shifter, they can master the sophisticated yet simple Ford E-Transit electric commercial van, which goes on sale this month.
There’s no learning curve with the E-Transit, and that’s exactly how Ford wants it. The gasoline-powered version of the Transit is America’s No. 1 selling medium-duty business van. Tens of thousands of people work in them every day at businesses ranging from owner-operator food trucks to utilities and massive delivery services. I recently drove a pair of E-Transits in the California wine country, where three grape growers will test the vehicles and Ford's far-reaching system to manage charging, maintenance and more.
The E-Transit sneers at look-at-me features like disappearing door handles and steering yokes.
Why? It’s a tool, not a toy. Time spent figuring out fancy new features and controls is time not working or getting to work, and that’s lost income.
More:Ford predicts it will make $45B from businesses using EV delivery vans, new services
There’s plenty new in the E-Transit, but Ford makes it almost unconsciously simple, with the exception of a chiding electronic voice that delivers messages like, “Unless in an emergency, try to avoid sudden braking. Looking ahead and braking early can help.”
There’s no button inviting you to experiment with different levels of regenerative braking, as you’ll find in many personal use EVs.
Instead, regeneration — the term for recharging the battery slightly while slowing down — happens when you press on the brake. Press harder and you get a second, higher level of regeneration. If you want the most regen, a setting that slows the vehicle dramatically when you’re off the accelerator pedal, press the “L” button in the gear selector. There isn’t a low gear, but max regen mimics one by slowing the vehicle noticeably, though not to a complete stop.
If you do pay attention, though, you’ll notice plenty of differences. More power when you accelerate. Enough to trigger another scolding from the energy-conscious electronic nanny. Smooth, easy acceleration uses less energy, helping the E-Transit achieve its rated range of 126 miles on a fully charged battery.
The other big difference between this Transit and the gasoline-powered model: nearly silent operation. There’s no sound or vibration from the engine — a very pleasant change in a van where the noisy engine is often just inches from the driver’s knee. The EV is so quiet it emits a forklift-style beeping when it is moving at neighborhood speeds to alert children and joggers.
The ride is also exceptionally smooth, thanks to a new independent suspension required by placement of the electric motor between the rear wheels.
Other electronic assistants manage the response to the accelerator pedal so the driver needn’t be mindful of changing cargo weights throughout the day.
“It makes laden and unladen vehicles drive similarly,” vehicle engineering manager Dennis Slevin said.
The E-Transit’s 68 kilowatt-hour battery can be charged in from 15% to 80% in 34 minutes — less than a decent lunch break — at 115 kW. If the driver takes the vehicle home at night, as Ford says 40% of Transit drivers do, a full charge takes 8 hours at 240 volts, the output of most home EV chargers.
Rear-wheel electric medium-duty commercial vehicle
Drive unit: 198 kW electric motor
Output: 266 hp; 317 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Single speed direct drive
Estimated range: 126 miles for a low- or medium-roof van
Cargo space behind seats: 246.7 cubic feet
Max front axle load: 4,130 pounds
Max rear axle load: 6,000 pounds
Contact Mark Phelan at 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @ mark_phelan . Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter.