First 10,000 Ford Pro E-Transit deliveries begin as Ford looks for ways to increase production in Kansas City

Ford today announced that the first deliveries of its E-Transit work van were beginning to the over 300 customers who already had more than 10,000 total orders placed. Ford said it “is now working on ways to increase E-Transit production.”

The E-Transit is the second of three Ford marquee model lines that will be made electric.

• Ford Pro begins shipping the all-new E-Transit, the electric version of America’s best-selling commercial van, from Kansas City Assembly Plant – the company’s first US plant to assemble both batteries and all-electric vehicles in-house

• E-Transit is Ford’s newest fully electric vehicle for customers, following Mustang Mach-E. F-150 Lightning and F-150 Lightning Pro begins arriving this spring, while Ford will have global capacity to produce 600,000 battery electric vehicles annually by late 2023

• Ford invested $100 million in Kansas City Assembly Plant and added approximately 150 full-time jobs to produce E-Transit as part of its commitment to American manufacturing

Here are the various E-Transit configurations and prices:

Ford CEO Jim Farley took to Twitter highlighting the UAW workers as part of the announcement. 1,100 of these E-Transits are going to one customer, Walmart, for home deliveries.

“E-Transit is a testament to the fact that an electric commercial fleet is no longer a vision of tomorrow, but a productivity-boosting modern reality,” said Kumar Galhotra, president of The Americas & International Markets Group, Ford Motor Company. 

We had the opportunity to drive the E-Transit in Sonoma a week ago and came away impressed. On the first drive I noted:

The RWD vehicle driving experience, with its base model Mustang Mach-E battery and 198 kW/266 HP drivetrain was…not very Mustang-like.

We can talk about the obvious: driving a sprinter van was never supposed to be very “Mustang-like” and the EV drive made the experience super smooth (both accelerating and regenerative braking) and quiet, which reduces work stress.

• My biggest takeaway: This thing was so easy to drive, much less complicated than the vans and small trucks it would be replacing. There is no motor vibration and you can hear the road or the (lackluster) stereo better. There is obviouusly tons of cargo space and even room to stand in the back – great for actually working out of the truck.
• My biggest complaint? The quiet motor made road noise, bumps, and roll of the vehicle much louder. I’ve had similar experiences on electric school bus drives and I’m not sure if this is something that cargo/transport EV makers should address or if it should just be the new normal.
• My E-Transit dream? A double sized battery with double the speed of charging that could be converted into the perfect small E-RV. Think about an up to 2kW solar roof that you could live in for weeks or months off grid.

Electrek’s take:

While 10,000 vehicles in the global feet of millions of work vehicles are just a small start, there is a lot to look forward to here. The 2.4kW of Pro Power is going to really help workers get their jobs done creating mini worksites wherever this thing goes. The quiet, low noise/vibration ride will make working that much easier, and there won’t be the pollution of idling gas or diesel motors.

As Ford eventually comes out with longer range, bigger battery versions of this vehicle, we expect to see larger charging, power, and range profiles, similar to the Ford F-150 Lightning. And maybe even some E-Transit RVs.