Ford's Electric Van Comes from Europe

Ford's electric van scheduled to be launched in 2010 will come from the Transit lineup belonging to the European division of the American company, CEO Alan Mulally announced today. The electric van is mainly supposed to represent a fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly alternative to today's van models as well as Ford's own way to comply with US Congress' r
equirements.

According to Autonews, the forthcoming vehicle will actually be an evolved version of the popular Transit Connect, often referred to as the smallest model in the whole Transit lineup. In addition, a refreshed Transit Connect variant sporting a gasoline-powered engine will arrive in Ford's US authorized dealerships as soon as mid-2009.

Although details are pretty limited for the time being, Ford plans to unveil more information about the electric van at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show due to open its doors in January 2009.

Getting back to Ford's plans, an electric van is quite an easy way to comply with US Congress' requirements and, at the same times, to attempt to revamp sales in this sector. In case you've missed the news, the United States Congress requested Detroit 3 (General Motors, Chrysler and Ford) an investment plan that would be focused on fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly and hybrid engines.

Even though there are several hybrids prepared for the next year, Ford's current range include a single hybrid model, namely the Ford Escape Hybrid launched in 2004. The Escape model recorded steady sales even from the first year of availability, with approximately 19,000 units delivered in 2005, 19,500 in 2006 and 21,000 vehicles sold in 2007. A potential hybrid van is said to record at least similar sales, especially when taking into account the current market, still under the pressure of the global recession.