Ford did not disclose technical details about the E-Transit Custom, other thanrevealing its range and saying that it will include a feature that will allow owners to power electric tools from the on-board battery.
“Europe’s best-selling van just went all-electric,” Hans Schep, head of the company’s commercial vehicle division in Europe, Ford Pro, said in a statement. “This is a watershed moment for commercial vehicle operators in Europe, and another hugely significant realization of our Ford Pro ambitions.”
The new model will be offered alongside the new electric E-Transit large van, which has just gone on sale.
The VW version will be badged as a Transporter as part of an industrial alliance between the two companies announced in 2019.
The E-Transit Custom will be one of four full-electric vans and three new full-electric passenger cars that Ford plans to launch by 2024. The other electric vans will include a Tourneo Custom passenger version, a small Transit Courier van available from 2024 and built in Craiova in Romania, and a Tourneo passenger version of the Courier.
As part of its partnership with VW, Ford will also build a version of its new Ranger pickup for Volkswagen badged as the Amarok.
VW will supply Ford a version of its Caddy compact van. Ford showed the Tourneo passenger van version in October last year and said the van would arrive at a later date without being specific.
The Transit and Tourneo Connect will be built alongside the Caddy at VW's factory in Poznan, Poland.
Ford has said it will offer full-electric or plug-in hybrid versions of its commercial vehicle lineup in Europe by 2024. By 2030 it said it expects two-thirds of its commercial vehicle sales in Europe to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid.
Ford’s first full-electric car built in Europe will be a midsize crossover that will go into production in Cologne, Germany, next year. The crossover will use Volkswagen Group's MEB electric platform that underpins the VW ID4, among other VW Group models.
The crossover will have a 500 km (311 mile) driving range on a single charge.
A second passenger vehicle based on the MEB platform and described as a sports crossover will also be built in Cologne, starting in 2024.
