Ford e-Transit review

The normal Transit range is baffling, but thankfully the e-Transit line-up is somewhat simpler. Though still very complicated. And it's not cheap either, but as we explained earlier you'll expect to save on fuel if you can charge up for peanuts.

Essentially the e-Transit range starts at £49,545 (excluding VAT) and tops out at nearly £60k. That's slightly more expensive than the Fiat E-Ducato and Renault Master E-Tech, about on par with the Maxus eDeliver 9, but around £10k cheaper than the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter.

What specs are available?

There are two trims for the e-Transit: Leader and Trend. Leader gets you the basic trim, which comes with 16in steel wheels, remote central locking, keyless go, heated seats and windscreen, 12in touchscreen and the nifty storage area underneath the passenger seat. You can get that van with the e-motor producing either 181bhp or 265bhp.

Trend adds in cruise control, front and rear parking sensors and the option of a double cab set-up if you fancy. That also comes with the two power options. 

Within these options are various combinations of length and height that it would be too dull to go into (three roof heights, three lengths plus rolling chassis options), but you can get your tape measure out and make your own mind up. There are also any number of extra packages and options you can add to your van – these things are almost infinitely customisable to your needs.

Unfortunately the £1,500 ambulance pack isn't available on the electric version of the Transit. Sad times. 

The big ones look heavy, can I still drive them? 

There’s an odd loophole in UK licence law that says you can only drive a 3.5-tonne van on a standard UK licence, but because the e-Transit is ‘alternatively fuelled’, you can still drive the 4.25-tonne variant, which might make the difference for someone. Although that loophole might not last long, as electric becomes more the norm than abnormal. After all, you’re not very ‘alternative’ if everyone is doing it.

What about the small print?

As far as things like warranties go, there’s a three-year/ 60,000-mile ticket on the Transit itself, with an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on the battery and associated bits. The van stuff is standard warranty, the battery a measure of Ford’s confidence that the power unit is likely to be ultra-reliable; a big corporation wouldn’t be generous if it was expecting a plethora of claims from what could turn out to be very big fleet sales.