2022 Ford E-Transit Begins Customer Trials, Keeps Groceries Fresh and Chilled

Some European fleet customers are already getting the hang of EV deliveries as Ford has allowed a batch of ten E-Transit units loose on the Old Continent roads. So, after the internal boot camp, it’s now time to check out the capabilities of the all-electric vehicle across some intensive real-world tests.

The Blue Oval has recently announced it has commenced customer trials with important European partners as it prepares for volume deliveries in the spring of next year. The major Old Continent operators are spread across the postal, municipal, and utility fields, as well as the last-mile and grocery delivery sectors.

Ten Ford E-Transit prototypes have been loaned to key companies from Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom: AWB waste disposal, Balfour Beatty, the City of Cologne municipal fleet, DHL Express, DPD, Norwegian Post, Ocado and Recover Nordic. Better yet, the entire range is well represented, including chassis cab conversions, van, as well as double-cab-in-van derivatives.

Ford says the trials have E-Transits with gross vehicle masses ranging from 3.5 to 4.25 tones (7,716 to 9.370 lbs.), but the most interesting of them all must be the specialized refrigerated box body for grocery delivery, which is keeping everything fresh and chilly with help from the company’s proprietary 2.3 kW ProPower Onboard system.

There is also a dropside body for construction sites (includes light beacons and weight sensors), a caged tipper for the nasty waste removal, a last-mile delivery box body (with walkthrough bulkhead and rear air suspension), as well as the second type of last-mile delivery van. All trial partners will have the E-Transit units at their disposal for at least six months, some even extending the period to a full year.