2024 Ford E-Transit Custom first overseas drive

You need just one hand to count the number of midsize electric vans on offer in this country. In fact, you only need two fingers.

Right now, those looking for a Hiace-sized commercial van that runs on clean, green electrons, only have two vehicles to choose from: the LDV eDeliver 7 and the Mercedes-Benz eVito. Not exactly an abundance of choice, but by the end of this year Ford will attempt to break up this duopoly with its completely new, fresh-outta-the-oven E-Transit Custom.

It’s a promising thing. Regular diesel-powered Transit Customs are now rolling off the boat, and the base combustion-powered offering is already enticing enough: with a human-centric front cabin and a cargo-centric rear with plenty of productivity-multiplying features spread between them, the core ingredients appear to be right.

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The E-Transit Custom aims to add an electric layer to all of that while introducing minimal penalties – and in some regards, some bona-fide advantages to going electric.

But first, let’s get one thing out of the way: we don’t know how much it’s going to cost in Australia just yet, or even its precise arrival date. Ford Australia is working on a “by the end of the year” timeline, which we interpret to mean the tail end of Q4, while pricing is an open-ended question at this point. Expect it to exist somewhere between the $62,990 diesel-powered Transit Custom Sport LWB and the aforementioned $90K E-Transit.

But let’s shift over to what we DO know.

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Unlike a lot of electrified vans that began life as combustion-only, the Transit Custom’s box-fresh platform was designed from the outset to be able to accommodate an electric powertrain.

That means the floor height is the same as that of its diesel-engined siblings, there are no ungainly bulges to accommodate the battery pack or the motor, and no weirdly grafted-on charging ports. There’s one fundamental architectural difference though: a shift of the driven wheels from the combustion van’s FWD layout, to RWD.

Bolted directly to the chassis, the electric motor delivers 160kW to the rear wheels (we aren’t getting the Euro-spec 100kW variant, nor the sporty 210kW MSRT variant), with the rear suspension retaining the same independent trailing axle layout as all other Transit Custom variants.

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Peak torque is listed at 415Nm, and there’s only one battery available: a 64kW NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) unit that provides enough juice for 308km of range on the WLTP cycle.

Is there an LFP (lithium-iron phosphate) battery option, as with Mustang Mach-E? LFP chemistry is quickly finding favour in non-performance applications for its durability and energy density, but Ford’s execs told us that there are currently no plans to introduce an alternative battery pack to the E-Transit Custom just yet – though it wasn’t ruled out for the future.

There’s no vehicle-to-grid cleverness, but it can take up to 124kW on a DC fast-charger, going from 15 to 80 percent in 41 minutes and delivering a quick burst of 38km of range in just five minutes.

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As for the all-important job credentials of Ford’s electric van, the E-Transit Custom has a solid resume.

All Australia-bound E-Transit Customs will get the long-wheelbase body as standard, which offers a cubic capacity of 6800 litres in the standard roof height, or 9000L with the high-roof option. Max payload is a healthy 962kg (though that’s almost 300kg under what its diesel-engined equivalent will tote), while towing capacity is a respectable 2300kg on a braked trailer – 800kg more than what its chief rival from LDV can legally pull.

Six sturdy tie-down points are fixed to the E-Transit Custom’s thick steel floor, and a steel bulkhead also features a trapdoor pass-through for especially long cargo to be carried under the passenger seats.

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The E-Transit Custom also sports a handy side-benefit of its electrification in the form of the Pro Power kit, which provides two household power outlets and the ability to offload up to 2300W of energy to charge up tools and run appliances.

In the front cabin, the passenger-side airbag has been relocated to the roof, liberating space in the upper dash for a deep lidded compartment that’s large enough to stow a laptop (or a small pizza) out of view, while open-topped trays on the upper dash allow tradies to “organize” a vast quantity of receipts.

But bigger gains are achieved from a major structural rethink. For the new Transit Custom, the front axle has been pushed further forward to almost entirely eliminate wheelarch intrusion to the cabin, while the cabin floor has been steamrolled flat.

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Coupled with a dash design that removes protrusions in the centre and relocates the shifter to the steering column, the result is a cabin that permits occupants to easily slide from left to right without knocking knees on plastics.

Is traffic a little gnarly next to you? Simply scooch over to the passenger side and exit directly onto the kerb.

On top of that, the list of mod-cons is a lengthy one. Dual-zone climate control, the option of heated and powered seats, a wireless phone charging pad, five USB charging ports (three USB-C and two USB-A, one of which is helpfully at the top of the windshield to help power dashcams), a 12-inch LCD digi-dash, and that massive 13-inch infotainment screen running Ford’s latest Sync4 operating system, along with the requisite smartphone mirroring via Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

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The Euro-spec cars we tested were also fitted with an electronic rear view mirror, as well as a 360-degree camera, lane-keep assist, blind spot monitoring and active cruise control.

There’s also a unique party trick. All E-Transit Customs will be equipped with Ford’s innovative tilting steering wheel as standard, which locks into an inclined position for laptop usage, or tilts completely level. A removable plastic insert turns it into a flat-topped table, a perfect place to perch a pie upon.

It’s the new Transit Custom’s livability aspect that Ford is hoping will win over customers. It’s a cabin that perfectly hits the ‘mobile office’ brief, and to be frank the electronic parking brake is our only real complaint – located between the centre air vents and coloured black, it’s a bit hard to pick out visually and difficult to find by feel.

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Even just changing its colour to something that contrasts more with its surroundings would help, but honestly this seems like a very, very small whinge. Take it as a sign that pretty much everything else has been nailed, though some frunk storage would have been a nice value-add.

But what about that range? 308km isn’t heaps, but In Europe, Ford’s analysis found that typical ‘tonner’ van drivers were driving, on average, only 80km per day – a distance that is comfortably covered by a single charge.

Australian van drivers will need to do their own assessment on whether that’s sufficient, but our first taste of a Euro-market E-Transit Custom delivered an average energy consumption of 21.0kWh/100km on a mix of urban roads and autobahns, which equates to a max range of 304km on a full charge. It appears Ford’s range claim is fairly honest, at least.

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To drive, the E-Transit Custom feels surprisingly docile. The 160kW/415Nm powertrain doesn’t feel as grunty as those numbers suggest, and we suspect there’s a lot of electronic torque-shaping going on to keep wheelspin at bay at lower speeds, as well as to extend range.

That said, acceleration is smooth, very linear, and perfectly adequate – unless you want to exceed 134km/h on an autobahn, in which case the computer says a resolute “no”.

Our testers were loaded up with 500kg of ballast to simulate a typical payload, and not only does the suspension easily cope with that, it feels like it would handle double without much issue.

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Other aspects of the E-Transit Custom’s handling are up to Ford’s usual van standard, with nicely direct steering, excellent body control (for a 2.2-tonne van) and superb damping.

Sporty vans have been a Ford of Europe specialty for a while now, and there’s definitely some verve to the way the E-Transit Custom handles a road.

The wild-looking MSRT version packs 210kW and an outrageous (and apparently aerodynamically functional) bodykit, but we aren’t getting it and it also has its wings electronically clipped, with a 154km/h Vmax.

Asked whether a truly hot dual-motor variant could be concocted, Ford’s vehicle integration manager for the Transit Custom, Eduardo Correia, said the potential exists… but a plan doesn’t. Oh well.

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More sensible minds might find greater appeal in the E-Transit Custom’s ownership proposition than its sporting cred.

Businesses that can leverage a solar installation for free energy, or have access to a cheap grid energy rate, will no doubt already see the sense in going all-electric, but an extra deal-sweetener is the fact the E-Transit Custom enjoys a two-year, unlimited distance maintenance interval – double that of the diesel-powered Transit Custom.

That said, the true economics of switching to this electron-burner for your workday chariot will hinge largely on two unknowns – how much the E-Transit Custom is going to cost in this country, and how well it’ll hold onto its value over time. We keenly await those numbers, because it’s difficult to judge the E-Transit Custom’s true worth without them.