Among the toughest working environments for vans,
cities offer significant challenges to moving people and delivering goods and
services. Ford, which is already investigating how plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles (PHEVs) could help in London, today announced it would also begin
testing in Valencia, Spain.
The collaboration between Ford Smart Mobility, the
regional government of Valencia and the Valencia City leadership, is designed
to see how Transit Custom PHEV fleets could contribute to cleaner air targets
and enhanced productivity.
Ford’s partnerships with the Generalitat Valenciana
and the city of Valencia, not only complements testing in London, but reflects
an investment of $11 billion that Ford is making in its electrified portfolio
to include 40 electrified vehicles globally, including 16 full battery electric
vehicles by 2022.
The focus in the Spanish city will be more regarding
the use of small and medium fleets of Transit Custom PHEVs that are driven
solely by an electric motor with a zero-emission target range of more than 50
km. The award-winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine
serves as a range extender, eliminating range anxiety by charging the on-board
batteries when longer trips are required.
Scheduled for volume production in 2019, the Transit
PHEV project reaffirms Ford’s commitment to Spain and Valencia as one of its
most important manufacturing locations in Europe. Ford has invested more than
€ 2.9 billion in Valencia since 2011, and in November 2017 Ford announced
investment of more than € 750 million in its Valencia Vehicle Operations to
build the next generation Ford Kuga.
Equipped with telematics and geofencing technology,
twenty Transit Custom PHEV vans, are being used for the 12-month trial in
London that Ford launched earlier this year, working with Transport for London
and a variety of fleet customers, ranging from the Metropolitan Police to
courier services and construction firms.
