Transit Connect test drive

Ford Transit Connect test drive

By Noel Adams

On October 1, 2011 I had a chance to take a short test drive in a Ford Transit Connect EV.  The Van was being handled by Chris from Azure Dynamics, the company that installs the EV power train on the Turkish built glider.

Chris handed me they key to the Van but before I settled into the driver's seat I opened the sliding side door to check out the rear cargo area.  There is plenty of room back there to fit its 1000lb carrying capacity.

I asked Chris about the rear seat option and he told me that Ford were close to making this available but still had to do some safety checks before they could begin selling them.  He also told me that the seats would be quite spartan, meant for casual use not for use as a regular four passenger minivan.

Inside the front seats are quite comfortable.  The key fits in a standard ignition switch and turning it a couple of clicks clockwise brings the van to life.  Of course, this being electric there is no noise, just a few lights on the instrument panel that come on.

The instrument panel looks similar to the standard gas model with four gages.  On the right is a regular speedometer but on the left the tachometer is replaced by a gage that shows remaining range and is calibrated from 0 to 70 miles.  Two smaller gages at the top of the instrument cluster show battery charge and battery temperature.

The gear shift is a conventional one so I stepped on the brake and selected drive.  I crept slowly out of the parking space avoiding the many pedestrians and navigated my way to the parking lot exit.

Once on the open road the Transit Connect was able handle Santa Monica traffic with no problem.  It was really too crowded to see how the van really performs.  There was no way to punch the accelerator and see how the Van accelerated, and no way to push the Van toward its top speed of 75mph.  Acceleration was more than adequate for the race to the next traffic light which is LA traffic.

At the first light I backed off the accelerator and the car gave a low whine and began to slow down.  The regenerative braking seemed to be set up to kick in when the when you cut the accelerator not when you press on the brakes.  Chris told me that it was turned down a little for the production model but the regen didn't seem at all aggressive to me, although it was somewhat more noticeable than on my Prius.  There is also a button to turn regen off completely which is useful for those occasions where you start out at the top of a hill with a full battery.  It can also be more efficient to coast rather than slow down with regen in some situations so this should allow you to do that.  I didn't get a chance to test this function so I can't say for sure how it will work.

The Transit Connect drives pretty much like a standard panel van.  In the very short test drive around the Civic Center in Santa Monica there were no surprises.  The course consisted of right turns only but the power steering worked well and was easy to turn which is important if you are driving around town all day in a van loaded with a thousand pounds of stuff.  Like every other panel van I have driven this van had it's share of squeaks and rattles but that is to be expected.

On the way back to the parking space I asked Chris when the Transit Connect would be available to regular buyers and he told me that while Ford were currently concentrating on the fleet market anyone could order one through a select Ford dealers.  He added that prices start around $58,000.  This price is almost three times the price of a base model gas version but there are additional incentives available for companies that bring this cost down quite a bit.  It will still be a very expensive option for individual purchasers.