One of my local dealers is famously all in on Ford EV’s. The E Transit only gets 120 range…in the summer and it’s $50k. They have assloads of F150 Lightening but they are all $55k or higher. It’s so hard to justify when the gas equivalent is 30% cheaper out the door.
Is the E Transit in the US also a commercial panel van like here in Europe? I would think that 120 miles would be plenty for a lot of use cases for these things. Maybe less so in rural areas, though.
“More convenient” is very subjective. I find it very convenient to be able to pull into my garage with 10 miles of range left and then have a full tank the next morning. In an ICE, I would start getting anxious at about a hundred miles of range, and doesn’t panicked at 50.
First, because I’ve found traditional ICE mileage estimations get progressive worse the lower you go under 100.
Second, because I grew up in Jersey, and still drive there regularly to visit family, and in Jersey you just never know if the gas station coming up at night is going to be open or not. Because all pumps are full service and you can’t pump your own gas, this is a real concern.
Third, because even in NY, the closest pump near me that’s guaranteed to be open after 9:30 is almost a half hour drive away.
Fourth, because my wife is terrible about not getting gas, and I’ve had days where I’ve left the car with a quarter tank, gotten in it the next day, and had 10-15 miles of range.
Maybe if you are in construction or something where you spend most of your time at one site in a workday.
You also have a lot of plumbers, repair men, etc. who do a lot of smaller jobs in a day, and I’m not sure how that would do using a van with only 120 miles of range. Thinking back to having my air conditioner repaired, the guy spent maybe 45 minutes to an hour at my house. If you have an 9 hour workday (common in the summer when they are busy) that only gives you 12 miles average between each call. That’s not much. I live in a small to mid-sized city, and you can travel that far and still be on the same side of town. Not to mention most of these companies cover a pretty large area with one distribution center.
My top of the line model Y performance with upgrades was $53k out the door before the 7500$ EV credit. Cheapest Lightning/mustang mach E was like 59k where I’m at. Then couple the no-hassle dealership-free approach and it becomes really obvious.
Part of it is brands like Ford and GM didn’t even bother with lower trim levels, so you get the expensive models out the gate with the hopes of cheaper trims on the way.
Is it truly a “gas equivalent?” Last I looked, an equivalent gas trim was comparably priced to the Lightning one. And with incentives now, some Lightnings are cheaper than gas.
One of my local dealers is famously all in on Ford EV’s. The E Transit only gets 120 range…in the summer and it’s $50k. They have assloads of F150 Lightening but they are all $55k or higher. It’s so hard to justify when the gas equivalent is 30% cheaper out the door.
Is the E Transit in the US also a commercial panel van like here in Europe? I would think that 120 miles would be plenty for a lot of use cases for these things. Maybe less so in rural areas, though.
A panel van with only 120 miles of range would not work in the US.
A lot of fleet customers use them for fixed routes, package delivery or shuttle buses.
Whether it’s “sufficient” or not is irrelevant when cheaper more convenient options exist.
“More convenient” is very subjective. I find it very convenient to be able to pull into my garage with 10 miles of range left and then have a full tank the next morning. In an ICE, I would start getting anxious at about a hundred miles of range, and doesn’t panicked at 50.
Why would you possible get anxious at 100 miles of range?
First, because I’ve found traditional ICE mileage estimations get progressive worse the lower you go under 100.
Second, because I grew up in Jersey, and still drive there regularly to visit family, and in Jersey you just never know if the gas station coming up at night is going to be open or not. Because all pumps are full service and you can’t pump your own gas, this is a real concern.
Third, because even in NY, the closest pump near me that’s guaranteed to be open after 9:30 is almost a half hour drive away.
Fourth, because my wife is terrible about not getting gas, and I’ve had days where I’ve left the car with a quarter tank, gotten in it the next day, and had 10-15 miles of range.
Can’t speak for him but on a road trip this makes sense
No it wouldn’t 120 miles is nothing when you have to drive all over to making deliveries, runs to the hardware store, or lugging around heavy cargo.
Delivery drivers are short on time, they cannot wait at a charging port.
Maybe if you are in construction or something where you spend most of your time at one site in a workday.
You also have a lot of plumbers, repair men, etc. who do a lot of smaller jobs in a day, and I’m not sure how that would do using a van with only 120 miles of range. Thinking back to having my air conditioner repaired, the guy spent maybe 45 minutes to an hour at my house. If you have an 9 hour workday (common in the summer when they are busy) that only gives you 12 miles average between each call. That’s not much. I live in a small to mid-sized city, and you can travel that far and still be on the same side of town. Not to mention most of these companies cover a pretty large area with one distribution center.
My top of the line model Y performance with upgrades was $53k out the door before the 7500$ EV credit. Cheapest Lightning/mustang mach E was like 59k where I’m at. Then couple the no-hassle dealership-free approach and it becomes really obvious.
I don’t know why the gap in price is so huge. BMW and MB can somehow make an EV that’s only 10-15% more than the gas equivalent (closer to 10%).
Part of it is brands like Ford and GM didn’t even bother with lower trim levels, so you get the expensive models out the gate with the hopes of cheaper trims on the way.
Is it truly a “gas equivalent?” Last I looked, an equivalent gas trim was comparably priced to the Lightning one. And with incentives now, some Lightnings are cheaper than gas.