The Azure Dynamics Transit Connect Electric is an

all-electric An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

developed as a collaboration between

Azure Dynamics Azure Dynamics Corporation is incorporated under the laws of Alberta, Canada having been spun out of BC Research Inc. Azure now is headquartered in Oak Park, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The company's principal business is in the development a ...

and

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, but Azure was the official manufacturer of record. Due to financial difficulties, production of the electric van was stopped in March 2012, as the company filed for bankruptcy protection in the

Supreme Court of British Columbia Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown-e ...

. The official US Environmental Protection Agency

all-electric range All-electric range (AER) is the maximum driving range of an electric vehicle using only power from its on-board battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of an all-electric vehicle, it means the maximum range per recharge. For ...

is and has a combined city/highway fuel economy of 62

miles per gallon gasoline equivalent Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe or MPGge) is a measure of the average distance traveled per unit of energy consumed. MPGe is used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare energy consumption of alternative ...

( equivalent) based on the five-cycle tests using varying driving conditions and climate controls, with the same 62 mpg-e rating for both city and highway. The energy consumption for combined city/highway was rated at 54

kWh A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...

/100 mi.

Production

Production began in December 2010, and full capacity was expected to be reached in April 2011 to produce between 600 and 700 units a year. The Transit Connect Electric was produced using a

vehicle glider In the United States, with regard to automobiles, a glider is a vehicle without a powertrain (especially without an engine). Gliders are generally sold as unused car bodies, but a second-hand car may also be stripped of its powertrain and sold as ...

at a

facility in Kocaeli, Turkey and then shipped to Azure Dynamics U.S. upfitter, AM General in

Livonia, Michigan Livonia is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 95,535 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which ranked it as Michigan's ninth most-populated municipality. Livonia is a part ...

, where the Force Drive™ electric drive train and other components are added to the vehicle. Azure Dynamics partnered with Johnson Controls-Saft to produce the

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

pack used in the Transit Connect Electric. The vehicle was badged with both the Ford Blue Oval and Azure's Force Drive logos, with Azure Dynamics being the manufacturer of record. The company expected to produce between 600-1000 Transit Connect Electric vehicles during 2011, and planned to double that in 2012.

Specifications

According to Ford and Azure, the Transit Connect Electric has an

of up to , but the official US Environmental Protection Agency range is . The electric van has a speed up to . The EPA rated the combined city/highway fuel economy at 62

Markets and sales

The first units were delivered to a select group through Azure's "LEAD Customer Program" in the

U.S The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in December 2010, among the first customers were

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

, the

New York Power Authority The New York Power Authority (NYPA), officially the Power Authority of the State of New York, is a New York State public-benefit corporation. It is the largest state public power utility in the United States. NYPA provides some of the lowest-co ...

and Southern California Edison. The Transit Connect Electric was priced at , which more than doubles the price of the gas-powered version even after federal and any state or local incentives for electric vehicles are discounted. The Transit Connect Electric was targeted towards the commercial fleet market and other "LEAD" customers included: Johnson Controls, Toronto Atmospheric Fund (FleetWise EV300 Program),

Xcel Energy Xcel Energy Inc. is an American utility holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving more than 3.7 million electric customers and 2.1 million natural gas customers in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico in 2019. It consists of four oper ...

., and

DHL DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...

. On March 22, 2011, Ford Motor Company and Azure Dynamics Corporation announced its first

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an customer order of 20 Transit Connect Electric vehicles by the Norwegian Post.
Norwegian Post Becomes First Customer for Ford Transit Connect Electric A test fleet of 14 was exported to the United Kingdom for the government's Ultra-Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator program. As of October 2011 global sales reached 460 units since its introduction in December 2010. Around 500 units were sold before Azure stopped production in March 2012.

Passenger version

In November 2011 Ford and Azure announced the introduction of a passenger wagon version of the Transit Connect Electric. The passenger version would have a liquid-cooled 28

from Johnson Controls, that is expected to deliver a range of on a single charge depending on driving conditions and accessory use. The wagon version has a top speed of .

References

External links