Ford’s showing at the Chicago Auto Show last week was designed to ease concerns about the automaker’s green vehicle portfolio. The American automaker plans on introducing an electric-battery version of its Transit Connect van in the United States in 2010 as part of a larger green-vehicle rollout. Ford plans on working with Smith Electric Vehicles to get this small commercial van into showrooms within the next year.
The template for Ford’s Transit Connect EV rollout is its existing plan for the traditional Transit Connect van. Ford has sold 600,000 units of this model since 2003 with fleet customers on four continents and 58 countries going wild for this roomy vehicle. The Ford-Smith collaboration in North America will emulate the automaker’s work with Tanfield, which has helped get Transit Connects into British and European Union showrooms over the last six years.
The Transit Connect EV will share the body design and cargo room of its predecessor while getting better gas mileage. The Transit Connect offers 135 cubic feet of cargo room with a maximum payload of 1,600 pounds. The EPA gas mileage on the existing Transit Connect is 24 during highway driving, which is a high number among competing cargo vans but insufficient for an automaker hoping to go green. While Ford was not forthcoming with the price tag on the Transit Connect EV, it will likely start out higher than the $21,475 for the traditional model until production costs decrease.
Ford indicated that the Transit Connect EV will be able to travel up to 100 miles on all-electric power before recharging. It is clear that the automaker’s first entry in the battery-electric market will need some work in future generations. Ford reinforced its plan to produce a battery-electric coupe by 2011, a next-generation hybrid by 2012 as well as a plug-in hybrid by 2012. The details may not have been plentiful at the Chicago Auto Show but Ford’s trend toward fuel-efficient vehicles is a long time coming. The question awaiting the leading member of the Big Three is whether its new eco-consciousness is too little, too late. If Ford can prove that the Transit Connect EV can compete with other EVs due to hit the market in the next few years, the company can improve its reputation while heading the push for a greener American auto industry.
