- Ford’s new electric van will be made in China and shares its platform with a Chinese EV.
- It’s designed for last-mile city use cases and is powered by a lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery.
- The Transit City will come in three distinct body styles.
Ford revealed the Transit City for the European market on Thursday, and it’s the most modern, high-tech iteration yet of the brand’s long-running commercial vehicle nameplate.
The Transit City was co-developed with Ford’s Chinese joint venture partner, Jiangling Motor Corporation, sharing its dedicated EV platform with the JMC Touring. It will be built at JMC’s plant in Nanchang, according to Autocar. It arrives shortly after Ford announced that it won’t be building a next-generation version of its home-grown E-Transit, citing issues with demand in Western markets. So China-backed designs will have to lead the way in Europe.
Ford has been candid about China’s EV prowess, even showing intent to partner with Chinese automakers to bring affordable, high-tech EVs to Western markets. In February, CEO Jim Farley went so far as to discuss the idea of allowing Chinese automakers to build cars in the U.S. through joint ventures with American partners, raising the prospect directly with senior Trump administration officials, according to Bloomberg. For now, that door remains firmly shut. Chinese EV imports face steep tariffs, and bans on Chinese software and hardware have effectively walled them off from the American market.
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Source: Ford
Europe is a different story. With fewer guardrails around Chinese EV imports, Ford is moving faster there. The Transit City is the clearest result of that strategy yet.
The van will come in three body styles: low-roof and high-roof options, and a stripped-down chassis cab configuration that can serve as a donor vehicle for specialized commercial applications. Power comes from a 56 kilowatt-hour lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery delivering up to 256 kilometers (160 miles) of WLTP range, which should translate to roughly 136 miles on the EPA cycle (though this model is unlikely to make it here). The larger van variant offers 8.5 cubic meters of cargo space, a 1,275-kilogram (2,810-lb) payload capacity, and a maximum load length of over three meters.
On paper, those numbers don’t sound impressive. But Ford said 90% of its customers in this segment drive fewer than 110 kilometers (68 miles) per day, which means the Transit City’s range should comfortably cover the vast majority of real-world use cases. This is a van built for urban duty cycles, and fleet operators who need more range have the option of the existing, mechanically unrelated E-Transit Custom, which has 230 miles of WLTP range.
Photo by: Ford
The Transit City’s single electric motor produces 110 kilowatts (148 hp) of power. DC fast charging tops out at 67 kW, enough to go from 10% to 80% in around 30 minutes, or add 50 km of range in 10 minutes. AC charging is supported at up to 11 kW, with a full 10% to 100% charge taking approximately five hours. Again, none of this is headline-grabbing, but it doesn’t need to be. Commercial vans run predictable, fixed routes, and modest specs that reliably serve those cycles are worth more than big numbers that likely never get used.
What fleet operators actually care about is the bottom line, and here the Transit City might have a strong case. Ford claims 40% lower total cost of ownership compared to a diesel equivalent. It has a two-year or 40,000 km (25,000 miles) service interval. EVs have fewer moving parts, meaning no oil changes, no spark plug replacements, and far less routine maintenance overall. The battery is backed by an eight-year or 160,000 km (100,000-mile) warranty.
Photo by: Ford
The Transit City is also reasonably well-equipped. Drivers get a digital gauge cluster and a large infotainment touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, alongside keyless start, air conditioning, a heated driver’s seat, adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, and autonomous emergency braking. All of that sounds adequate for a vehicle that will likely spend its life navigating congested city streets. However, it doesn’t seem as advanced as the Rivian EDVs here in the U.S., which also feature 360-degree cameras and powered liftgates.
The Transit City will be priced at around £27,000, approximately $36,000, with deliveries expected to begin later this year.
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