Ford has opened the order banks for its 2025 E-Transit, which now costs the same upfront whether you order the electric or gas model – and the electric one is even cheaper when you take into account savings on fuel, maintenance, and possible incentives.
The E-Transit got a pretty big update this year (after significant delay), increasing battery capacity from 67 to 89kWh, and gaining faster AC and DC charging performance as well. This came along with just a $1,100 price bump, quite small compared to the increased battery capacity.
2025’s model isn’t getting nearly as big of changes, but does gain a few extra options. The most interesting of these is the addition of “trade packages” straight from the factory.
There is a significant ecosystem of commercial vehicle “upfitters” who will take in a factory-configured van and rebuild it with interior and/or exterior changes for whatever specific niche the van needs to fit into. Businesses will buy a plain van and take it to someone to build the specific cabinets they need for their job.
This is still possible with the 2025 E-Transit – which is indeed still available in chassis cab and cutaway configurations – but now Ford will sell you a van straight from the factory built for four specific common industries, with components from Ranger Design, a commercial van upfitter.
The new trade packages include:
Electrician trade package, which includes drawers and bins to store parts and reels to hang bundles of wiring – MSRP starting at $4,370
HVAC trade package, featuring large shelves and storage bins, but also specialized refrigerant storage racks and restraints – MSRP starting at $4,440
General Contractor package, mix of multipurpose shelves, bins, drawers, and hooks – MSRP starting at $2,900
Foldable Shelving Package, with deep, large-capacity folding shelves intended for delivery services – MSRP starting at $3,300
While established fleets might already have relationships with their upfitters and have solutions that work for them, this should simplify the process for smaller or new businesses that just want the easiest solution.
2025 Ford E-Transit is much cheaper than gas after incentives
In addition to these options, the 2025 E-Transit now starts at an even $51,000. At least it’s a more attractive number. The chassis cab version starts at $46,200, and cutaway starts at $45,700.
Importantly, Ford says that “comparable gas Transit models” start at the same price as the E-Transit in all three configurations, so not only do you get the fuel and maintenance savings of using electric drive instead of gas, but you don’t even have to pay a premium for it upfront.
But even better than that, the E-Transit should qualify for various green vehicle incentives. You’ll have to check what’s available in your area, but it qualifies for the $7,500 commercial clean vehicle tax credit (which doesn’t have the same sourcing requirements as the personal credit) and likely for other incentives, so once that’s taken into account, it’s even cheaper upfront than going gas, alongside the TCO benefits.
Better yet, Ford is offering a “$2,000 commercial charging cash incentive.” Since many businesses will have to install some method to charge their electric vans, this can be combined with various government or utility incentives to help with charging installation and bring the price down quite a bit.
The order banks for the 2025 Ford E-Transit are open today, so reach out to Ford Pro to go electric with your business.
Electrek’s Take
I’ve argued before that the EV cost parity conversation doesn’t make any sense, and I still hold that position. Especially for commercial customers who are often more spreadsheet-driven, where the benefits of longer-term fuel and maintenance savings are more clear than they are to the mercurial consumer.
But commercial EV prices can still be quite eye-watering. There are a ton of incentives available (though the really big ones are for heavier-duty vehicles than the E-Transit), but navigating one’s way through all of these can still be complicated for a business that just wants a truck.
And it’s still important to offer a choice with a little friction as possible. If buyers can call up Ford Pro and just as easily pick gas or electric, with no difference in base price, and with factory upfitting options, and get help installing a commercial charger (perhaps one of the ones that Ford Pro itself sells), that gets rid of a lot of the confusion and calculation with going electric.
So moves like this are a great way to ensure more businesses can convert to electric as easily as possible. No wonder the E-Transit is the best-selling electric van in America, Ford seems to be doing it right over there.
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However, Tesla has since removed Nissan from its list of automakers with access and switched the Japanese automaker back to the “coming soon” list.
Nissan confirmed to Electrek that access is not currently available, but it will be available by the end of the year.
It sounds like a miscommunication on Tesla’s side. We hear that it should be coming soon.
Elon Musk fired Tesla’s entire charging team – seemingly to make an example of its then-head of charging, Rebecca Tinucci, who reportedly disagreed with Musk about making further layoffs following another layoff wave.
Instead of just firing her, Musk decided to fire the entire team and then sent an email to other Tesla managers using the charging team situation as a warning.
Tesla has since had to rehire several former members of its charging team to rebuild the department.
This is believed to have slowed down the opening of the Supercharger network to other automakers in North America. We were told that communications with Tesla’s charging team were difficult to non-existent for those automakers for weeks earlier this year.
Europe’s “green dream” Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US after a rescue package failed to go through, leaving the battery maker with just one week’s worth of cash in the account. Cofounder and CEO Peter Carlsson, who spearheaded a costly expansion, has also quit.
The Swedish-owned battery maker filed for Chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas, reports Bloomberg, with $5.8 billion debt. CEO Peter Carlsson, Telsa’s former chief products officer, stepped down from his role as CEO after the filing, but will remain onboard as advisor and director.
According to a statement, Northvolt said that its main factory will maintain business as usual during the reorganization, as the company now has a buffer from creditors, giving it time to restructure the balance sheet. However, the company said that this will not impact its business in Germany, and through the court process, Northvolt now has access to about $145 million in cash collateral. An additional $100 million in debtor-in-possession financing will be added to the pot via one of its customers, the report said.
The company still has a $7 billion project in place in Quebec – a new campus that is set to include a cell production plant, battery recycling, and cathode active-material production facilities – and the bankruptcy won’t affect those plans, the company said on its website. “Northvolt Germany and Northvolt North America, subsidiaries of Northvolt AB with projects in Germany and Canada, are financed separately and will continue to operate as usual outside of the Chapter 11 process as key parts of Northvolt’s strategic positioning.”
The plant is expected to have capacity to produce 30 GWh of battery cell every year, with an expansion set to double that output, making it enough to power 1 million EVs. The Canadian government is putting $1.334 billion CND toward the project, with Quebec chipping in another $1.37 billion CND.
Northvolt has hit hard times in recent months, once thought of as Europe’s best shot to homegrown EVs and the makers of “the world’s greenest battery.” Enthusiasm mounted as the company opened the doors to its first plant in Sweden, in the small town of Skelleftea near the Arctic Circle, in 2021. Billions of dollars have been invested into the company, and Volvo, VW, and BMW rushed to place future orders.
All of this enthusiasm has been fueled by a vision to cut dependency on China by creating greener EV batteries using 100 percent recycled nickel, manganese, and cobalt. Plans were put in place to build factories in Gothenburg, in southern Sweden, and Poland, Germany, and Canada, all backed by huge government subsidies. Back in January, the company raised an additional $5 billion, firmly locking in its position as one of Europe’s best-funded startups and recipient of the largest-ever green loan in the EU.
But then things started going south, with Northvolt’s production problems and massive delays forcing BMW to cancel its €2 billion battery cell order with the company. This past May, Northvolt also announced that it pushing back its plans for an IPO until next year. The interim report that followed revealed the dire state of its finances and how far its production had fallen short of goals, with Carlsson admitting he had been “too aggressive” with the company’s expansion plan.
Since Northvolt has put in place a series of changes to reset the company’s course, including bringing onboard a new CFO, leaving the former CFO to focus solely on expansion plans. Plus the company started making cuts, including closing down its research center, Cuberg, in San Francisco and deprioritizing secondary businesses. At the end of September, Northvolt announced that it would cut 1,600 staff from three Swedish sites and about 20 percent of its international workforce.
Last month, Volvo started proceedings to take over their joint venture with Northvolt, while Volkswagen Group’s representative to Northvolt’s board stepped down this month. Sweden, for its part, is ruling out taking a stake to save its homegrown enterprise, Bloomberg reports. Carlsson had said last month that the company needs more than $900 million to permanently shore up its finances.
Photo credit: Northvolt
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Leading yard operation 3PL YMX Logistics has announced plans to deploy fully twenty (20) of Orange EV’s fully electric Class 8 terminal trucks at a number of distribution and manufacturing sites across North America.
As the shipping and logistics industries increasingly move to embrace electrification, yard operations have proven to be an almost ideal use case for EVs, enabling companies like Orange EV, which specialize in yard hostlers or terminal tractors, to drive real, impactful change. To that end, companies like YMX are partnering with Orange EV.
“This relationship between YMX and Orange EV is a significant step forward in transforming yard operations across North America,” said Matt Yearling, CEO of YMX Logistics. “Besides the initial benefits of reduction in emissions and carbon footprint, our customers are also seeing improvements in the overall operational efficiency and seeking to expand. Our team members have also been sharing positive feedback about their new equipment and highlighting the positive impact on their health and day-to-day activities.”
This Orange looks good in blue
One of the most interesting aspects of this story – beyond the Orange EV HUSK-e XP’s almost unbelievable 180,000 lb. GCWR spec. – is that this isn’t a story about California’s ports, which mandate EVs. Instead, YMX is truly deploying these trucks throughout the country, with at least four currently in Chicago (and more on the way).
“Our collaboration with YMX Logistics represents a powerful stride in delivering sustainable yard solutions at scale for enterprise customers,” explains Wayne Mathisen, CEO of Orange EV. “With rising demand for electric yard trucks, our joint efforts ensure that more companies can access the environmental, financial, and operational benefits of electrification … this is a win for the planet, the workforce, and the bottom line of these organizations.”
We interviewed Orange EV founder Kurt Neutgens on The Heavy Equipment Podcast a few months back, but if you’re not familiar with these purpose-built trucks, it’s worth a listen.