This announcement got a bit lost in the Lightning hubub, I think.

[EssExTee]

There's an electric Transit coming. It's only got a 126 mile range for the low-roof, but Ford claims their telematics data show the average van being driven only 75 miles per day.

Starting price is just a couple grand more than an ICE Transit, you'll save the cost difference on fuel alone within the first two years if you're driving 75 miles per day.

[pos_camaro]

@essextee Makes sense to me. Go with a lower range to maximize load carrying as most of their use will be local. Now they just need to convince possible customers that they don’t actually need 200 miles of range.

[EssExTee]

@pos_camaro they say the load space isn't changed at all, and they're even putting in system like the Lighting where you can use it to power equipment at a job site.

[Shop-Teacher]

@essextee That's pretty brilliant actually. I bet they sell a bunch of them.

[HammerheadFistpunch]

@essextee I guess the question is: 75 miles average or the majority of the data is around 75 miles. Is it that 85% of van mileage is plus or minus 10% of 75 miles? Or half are driving 25 miles and the other half 125?

[Roadkilled]

@hammerheadfistpunch My guess would be a bimodal distribution. There will be a large number used in cities where the daily mileage will be lower. These would be the target for replacement with an electric version. You will also have vans used in rural areas where they may be driven 60 miles one-way to a work site. I would expect ICE to remain in service in these areas.

Fleet managers are probably well aware of the daily mileage of their vehicles and which are prime targets for electric replacement. However, @AestheticsInMotion needs to weigh in on this discussion since he is the expert.

[WBizarre]

@essextee Is that 126 miles empty or full?
This is from Rivian: "Our powertrain, thermal system and frame structure enable the R1T to tow up to 11,000 pounds in all variants. When towing at full capacity, you can expect around a 50% reduction in range."

So, the Transit probably won't be carrying 11k lbs , but Rivian does admit to significant range reduction when under load. How much of that range will get chopped when you load up the Transit? I guess if it's a flower shop or a bakery or something, it'll be negligible. But whatever that range drop is, plus running AC or heat, and you're probably skirting that 75 mile line.

Should companies selling commercial EV's be required to post 2 range numbers, one empty and one at weight capacity?

[EssExTee]

@hammerheadfistpunch That number came from Ford's own website, and they used the word "average". https://www.ford.com/commercial-trucks/e-transit/2022/

[VincentMalamute]

@essextee said in This announcement got a bit lost in the Lightning hubub, I think.:

they say the load space isn't reduced at all,

I wouldn't be surprised. The Transits have a ton of wasted empty space underneath their floors.

[VincentMalamute]

@wbizarre said in This announcement got a bit lost in the Lightning hubub, I think.:

So, the Transit probably won't be carrying 11k lbs ,

Yeah, the eTransits won't be towing. That'll definitely kill mileage. Their payload is about half of that 11K tow rating on the R1T. Max payload spec gets you one with a rating of around 5,000 lbs or so. And most delivery vans aren't carrying near their max payload. Maybe some of the contractors like plumbers would be close to max payload but urban plumbers probably wouldn't have an issue with the limited range.

[AestheticsInMotion]

@roadkilled said in This announcement got a bit lost in the Lightning hubub, I think.:

@hammerheadfistpunch My guess would be a bimodal distribution. There will be a large number used in cities where the daily mileage will be lower. These would be the target for replacement with an electric version. You will also have vans used in rural areas where they may be driven 60 miles one-way to a work site. I would expect ICE to remain in service in these areas.

Fleet managers are probably well aware of the daily mileage of their vehicles and which are prime targets for electric replacement. However, @AestheticsInMotion needs to weigh in on this discussion since he is the expert.

Electrics are definitely on my mind, but infrastructure needs to come first. As much as I'd love to make the switch, I would currently have no way to charge them and no chance I'm hell of convincing the execs to install the necessary equipment ahead of schedule.

For Ford's option in particular, I'd be curious to see how weather and load affect the range. If I could expect to get 120 miles per day in any temperature and loaded to the max, and see no degradation in that range for five years of 7 days a week use... Well. That's when it would be a no-brainer for me. The amount of money and down-time aaved from ditching an ICE is enough to make me drool.

Unfortunately vans are becoming less and less viable for deliveries as people turn more towards ordering everything online. There's a reason Amazon has started using large bread trucks this last year. It's the same reason USPS decided it needed larger vehicles.

[ForSweden]

@essextee Neat!

Like all new EVs, It doesn't exist until it appears at dealerships

[davesaddiction]

@essextee said in This announcement got a bit lost in the Lightning hubub, I think.:

average van being driven only 75 miles per day

Like HHFP said, that's works great until you have to do the route that's 150 miles once every couple weeks...

But I guess the driver won't mind getting paid while he sits and lets it recharge.

[Ermahgerd]

@hammerheadfistpunch I am willing to bet the variance in the data is not all that big or they would probably develop different battery back options to accommodate customers with long daily routes.

[EssExTee]

@ermahgerd but don't forget that regular route drivers aren't the only van owners. Plenty of tradesmen or businesses that make ad-hoc deliveries can make use of that range.