Ford e-Transit review

Of the full electric Transit range cheapest is the smallest e-Transit Courier, which starts from £27,000, followed by the mid-size e-Transit Custom, which starts from £45,000, both excluding VAT. But the one we’re focusing on here, the full sized e-Transit, starts from £52,599 and tops out at nearly £60k. Yep, that's before HMRC has slapped on its mark-up.

That’s a fair whack more than the diesel Transit, but you'll expect to save on fuel if you can charge up for peanuts. It’s also slightly more expensive than a Fiat E-Ducato or Renault Master E-Tech, though about on par with the Maxus eDeliver 9. And around £10k cheaper than the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter too.

What specs are available?

There are two trims for the e-Transit: Leader and Trend. Leader gets you 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 one. Although that loophole might not last long, as electric becomes more the norm than abnorm. Can't be ‘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.