Ford has introduced the Plug-in hybrid people carrier Tourneo and the luggage carrier Transit. Both the vehicles are offered with a 1.0 litre eco-boost petrol engine which produces and along with a 92.9 KW electric motor which drives the front wheels. The energy for this motor is provided by a 13.6 KW-h battery pack which is placed beneath the floor. This arrangement does not infringe upon the space provided for carrying cargo or people. The battery pack allows the vans a pure electric range of 56 km for the Transit and 53 km for the Tourneo. With the range extender petrol engine, the total range of the vehicle is 500 km. The Transit and Tourneo come with an eight year/ 160,000 km warranty on the battery.

The batteries of the vehicle can be charged in 4.3 hours using a domestic 240 V 10 Amp socket. If you are using the commercial type-2 AC charger, the vehicle gets charged in 2.7 hours. These vans can be driven in four modes:

  • EV Auto – This mode is intended to provide the optimum blend of performance and efficiency. The vehicle’s control algorithms monitor battery energy levels and the current driving scenario to decide whether to activate the range extender or not.
  • EV Now – This mode prioritises the use of the electric motor for emission free driving till such time as the battery charge reaches a minimum level.
  • EV Later – In this mode the algorithm prioritises the use of the petrol engine and charge the batteries using regenerative braking to maintain the charge in the battery.
  • EC Charge – This mode uses the petrol engine for propulsion as well as for charging the batteries for later use in the EV Now mode.

The drivers can choose the amount of energy recovery and braking assistance by selecting either Drive or Low mode. In Low Mode, releasing the accelerator leads to braking and also switches on the brake lights to warn following vehicle. This system allows for one pedal driving in stop-go city traffic. The tachometer has been replaced with a power/ charge gauge while the engine temperature gauge has been replaced with a battery charge status.

The Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid will be offered in a single L1 H1 variant, with Van or Kombi bodystyles. The Van model is available in a choice of Base, Trend and high-specification Limited series. Cabin air-conditioning and a heated windscreen are standard on all vehicles, and available equipment includes Ford’s voice-activated SYNC 3 communications and entertainment system, featuring an 8-inch colour touchscreen that can be controlled with pinch and swipe gestures. An optional 12-volt Epower Pack will enable operators to run high-power electrical equipment such as power tools or site lights from the vehicle’s high-voltage battery, using an easily accessible connection delivering up to 6 kW of power.

The Tourneo is offered in the top Titanium trim. It has adjustable seating wherein the rear seats can be swivelled to a conference seating or arranged in two rows of front facing six seats. For its customers, Ford is also offering the FordPass mobile app which allows for monitoring the battery and charge status of the vehicle. It also allows the customers to search for and find 118,000 charging stations across 30 countries in Europe. The app has got into tie up with several utilities across Europe to all the owners a seamless charging experience where payments for the entire fleet would be charged to a single account. Ford is also tying up with six European Utilities for installing charging wall boxes at homes for quick charging of batteries.

By 2020 Ford will also offer the FordPass Pro app which will have geofencing capability which will automatically change over the propulsion to EV Now mode when the vehicle enters an ultra-low emission zone in cities. This will protect the hassle of fines for drivers.

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