Ford E-Transit Custom Oz-bound

FORD Australia has confirmed that the battery-electric E-Transit Custom will become the third electrified vehicle in the Blue Oval’s local line-up in 2024.

This development stems from Ford of Europe’s announcement in March that it would launch three electric passenger vehicles and four electric commercial vehicles – namely the Transit Custom one-tonne van, Tourneo Custom multi-purpose vehicle, as well as a smaller, next-gen Transit Courier van and Tourneo Courier multi-purpose vehicle – in the next two years.

At the time, the announcement underlined the Blue Oval’s ambition to sell more than 600,000 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in the region by 2026 and flowed directly from the Dearborn-based company’s creation of a new global business unit, Ford Model e, which is focused on the design, production, and distribution of electric and connected vehicles.

As part of Ford Australia’s plans to offer at least five electrified vehicles by the end of 2024, the E-Transit Custom will join the local line-up with the Escape plug-in hybrid (due in showrooms this month) and the all-electric Ford E-Transit (launching later in the year).  

“The E-Transit Custom is exactly the kind of versatile, practical van business customers are looking for, with the benefit of zero-emissions efficiency,” said Ford Australia and New Zealand president and CEO, Andrew Birkic. 

“We are focused on deeply understanding the needs of commercial vehicle customers and bringing them the best of our global line-up.”

The E-Transit Custom is designed to “set a new benchmark in the one-tonne van segment and help businesses to effortlessly make the change to electrified vehicles.” 

Ford says the E-Transit Custom is “built with electrification and next-gen connectivity at its heart”, replete with “intelligent software” and connectivity tools to help owners “outsmart the day-to-day, maximise vehicle uptime, and increase productivity for businesses.” 

The new model is further said to offer “compelling range, full towing capability and DC fast charging”.

If it is also powered by a 68kWh lithium-ion battery pack (as fitted in the E-Transit), the lighter, smaller E-Transit Custom should have a range of more than 317km (WLTP, as claimed for its sibling), and DC fast-charging capability from 15 to 80 per cent in about 34 minutes or up to 100 per cent in 8.2 hours from the onboard 11.3kW AC charger.

Sporting a “sculptural” and aerodynamically optimised design, the E-Transit Custom has “rebalanced proportions, a confident stance and full LED lighting”, the Blue Oval says.

The Transit Custom will not be exclusively produced as a BEV, though. Reports suggest that there will also be mild-hybrid turbo-diesel along with plug-in petrol-electric hybrid versions. 

All Transit Custom variants will be built by Ford Otosan – Ford’s long-standing joint venture with Koç Holding – at the firms’ co-owned site in the Kocaeli province of Turkey. 

Ford Otosan, which previously announced a €2 billion ($A3 billion) investment in its facilities, will also assume ownership of the Craiova plant in Romania, where the next-gen Transit Courier and Tourneo Courier models (and their all-electric variants) will be produced.  

The all-electric E-Transit Custom will enter production in the second half of 2023 and Ford Australia will release further product details in September this year.