After teasing the all-electric compact van several times, Ford took the sheets of its third electric van Thursday, the E-Transit Courier, for the European market.
Ford revealed its first electric van, the E-Transit, an electric upgraded version of its versatile best-selling Transit model in 2020.
Since deliveries began earlier last year, the E-Transit has climbed to become the top-selling commercial EV in North America and was also the best-selling in its segment in Europe since June.
Ford’s electric van is a game changer for commercial transportation, packed with Ford Pro’s “one-stop shop” suite of products for all your business needs, including software, charging, services, financing, and more, wrapped into a single package to make it easier to manage.
The E-Transit is helping businesses, small and large, such as Coke Canada and the US Postal Service, reduce their emissions.
In fact, the E-Transit is even being converted into a Type A electric school bus and camper van, expanding its use to cut emissions in other types of transportation.
Ford took it a step further, releasing the all-electric version of Europe’s best-selling cargo van with the E-Transit Custom, or what the automaker calls a “smartphone on wheels.”
The E-Transit Custom is a complete electric “no compromise” commercial electric van with a WLTP range of 380km (about 236 miles) that Ford estimates can save customers up to an hour with new features to improve efficiency.
Ford E-Transit Courier (Source: Ford)
Ford introduces the E-Transit Courier
Ford is expanding its lineup once again with the addition of the new electric E-Transit Courier compact van.
The American automaker revealed Thursday that the new E-Transit Courier will come with 25% additional load volume and more flexible load area, alongside Ford Pro’s connected all-in-one services to get you up and running more efficiently.
With an all-new body design and increased dimensions, the E-Transit Courier can carry two Euro pallets for the first time with a total cargo volume of 2.9 m3. A 44-liter frunk is also standard.
The electric van features a 100 kW motor, one-pedal driving capabilities, plug and charge, and DC fast charging ability up to 100 kW, which Ford expects can add 87km of range in 10 minutes and charge from 10% to 80% in less than 35 minutes.
Ford upgraded the interior to enhance productivity with a new “Squircle” steering wheel, a new “digiboard” with a 12-inch digital cluster, a 12-inch SYNC 4 touchscreen, and a floating instrument panel. The Office Pack includes a foldaway flat work surface to use a laptop or write to make working on the go even easier.
The automaker says it expects the E-Transit to have significantly lower ownership costs, with non-scheduled maintenance costs forecasted to be 35% lower than on diesel-powered models.
For those with five or more vehicles, Ford is giving away a free year of Ford Pro E-Telematics to help optimize EV fleet management, which includes current charging status, vehicle-specific state of charge, remaining range information, and more.
All E-Transit Courier models will be built in Craiova, Romania, later in 2024, according to Ford. More information is expected as we approach the launch date.
Electrek’s Take
An electric compact van is an excellent addition to Ford’s expanding zero-emission lineup that now includes the Mach-E, Lightning, E-Transit, and E-Transit Custom, alongside Ford’s new electric Explorer released in Europe as it works its way toward producing two million EVs a year by 2026.
The only question I have for Ford is why are you not releasing the latest models in North America? First the electric Explorer, and now the E-Transit Courier?
The E-Transit alone has saved over 745,000 gallons of gas, equating to over 4.3 kg of CO2 saved from entering the earth’s atmosphere. Ford’s new compact electric van will help reduce emissions even further as the transportation industry looks toward a cleaner, sustainable future.
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The sun has set on a frantic day of scrutineering at this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), as teams scramble to qualify for a spot on the starting line tomorrow morning. Electrek FSGP 2025 is shaping up to be one of the event’s most attended ever, thanks to a strong showing of first-time and returning schools. But that also means new and unproven vehicles on the track.
Today, I walked through a couple of bays and talked with a few of the teams able to spare a minute; almost all of them were debuting completely new cars that were years in the making. Building a solar car is no easy feat. It’s not just the engineering and technical know-how that’s often a hurdle for them; it’s more often monetary. However, one of the things that makes this event so special is the camaraderie and collaboration that happen behind the scenes.
Northwestern University is back with a completely new car this season, its eighth since the team’s original inception in 1997 during the GM Sunrayce days. Its motor controller, which is responsible for managing the flow of power from the batteries to the motor, was given to them by the Stanford team. Stanford had extras and could spare one for Northwestern, which needed a replacement. It doesn’t stop there. Two members of the Northwestern team (Shannon and Fiona) told me four other teams helped them with a serious tire replacement around 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, saving them from missing important parts of scrutineering.
This is also an exciting year for the West Virginia team, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary as a solar car team, making them one of the oldest teams on the track. With age comes wisdom though: WV is competing again this year with its single-occupant vehicle, Sunseeker. The team ran into issues after last year’s American Solar Challenge (ASC) cross-country event when the vehicle’s control arm, an important part of the suspension that connects the wheels to the chassis, broke. They tell me this year they’re back with a completely redesigned control arm made of both aluminum and steel. Thank you, Hayley, John, and Izzy, for taking the time to talk.
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We’re also seeing new builds this year from the University of Florida, the University of Puerto Rico, NC State, and UC Irvine. Believe it or not, the latter team has never competed in an American Solar Challenge/Formula Sun Grand Prix. This is their first year. UC Irvine doesn’t expect to be on the starting line tomorrow but hopes to be on the track soon after.
University of Puerto RicoUniversity of California Irvine
On the other hand, we have tried-and-proven cars like my personal favorite, Polytechnique Montréal’s Esteban, which undergoes minor improvements each year. I talked a little bit with this team today, and they told me the car’s motor was dropped, disassembled, and cleaned in preparation for the event. Polytechnique Montréal has passed scrutineering and will appear on the starting line tomorrow.
Polytechnique Montréal
Teams that haven’t wrapped up scrutineering in the last three days can still complete it, though doing so will eat into time on track.
You can learn more about the different classes and the specific rules here.
I’ll continue to post more updates as the event continues!
2025 Electrek FSGP schedule
The 2025 Electrek FSGP will again be held at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which, interestingly enough, General Motors occasionally uses for Corvette testing and development. A bit of a full-circle moment being so close to the company that started it all.
The event is open to the public and FREE to attend. Come see the solar car race up close!
Racing starts on July 3 from 10am to 6pm CT and continues through July 5 from 9am to 5pm CT.
Featured image via Cora Kennedy for Electrek FSGP/ASC.
Note: The Formula Sun Grand Prix is not in any way associated or affiliated with the Formula 1 companies, FORMULA 1 racing, or the FIA Formula One World Championship.
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Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.
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Got news? Let us know! Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.
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“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”
Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.
Read more CNBC tech news
Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.
“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”
The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain
U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.