The Transit Connect Electric will offer European fleet owners lower operating costs. The vehicle will have a targeted range of up to 130 km/80 miles on a full charge and zero exhaust emissions. It will be rechargeable using standard European 220/240-volt outlets within 6 to 8 hours.
The vehicles built without the powertrain will be shipped from the current Ford Otosan manufacturing facility in Kocaeli, Turkey, directly to an Azure-contracted manufacturing location in Europe for final assembly. The completed Transit Connect Electric will then be sold by Azure Dynamic, while all the repair works will be provided by Ford dealers.
This is why the European Transit Connect Electric will be badged with both the Ford Blue Oval and Azure’s Force Drive logo like its North American sibling.
The Ford Transit Connect electric will be offered in both right- and left-hand drive configurations. Further details of market availability and pricing will be announced closer to launch.
Following the all-electric van’s introduction onto the European market next year, Ford also plans to launch the Ford Focus Electric in 2012. Furthermore, there will be two next-generation petrol hybrid-electric vehicles and a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle introduced in 2013.
"There is increasing interest among a number of customers in Europe for electrified versions of vehicles like the Transit Connect so we are responding by stepping up our efforts to bring these models to the marketplace alongside our latest-generation, fuel-efficient petrol and diesel powered models," said John Fleming, Ford of Europe's Chairman and CEO.
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