Fully Charged | Ford Transit connect | episode 30

A drive in the brilliant electric Ford Transit Connect. Smooth/fast/quiet/clean/comfy.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Robert
• Llewellyn
• Fully
• Charged
• electric
• car
• Ford
• Transit
• Connect
• delivery
• van
• traffic

[stubbornVN]

I can't understand this at all. Why is Robert on the left side of the van driving on the left side of the road?

[fullychargedshow]

@stubbornVN The explanation is simple. In the UK we drive on the left, the vehicle was built in Europe, where everyone is sensible and drives on the right. This was a demonstration vehicle, I should have explained, when Ford release the car in the UK it will be right hand drive.

[Jesus45U]

I've driven a van during my employ as a phone technician. And in some cases, 70 miiles would have been enough, but in most cases it wouldn't even have been close to enough. It was normal to put up to 200 miles a day on the clock.

But I would have *loved* to have an EV during start stop traffic, they just make oh so much sense there. Add a small gas turbine as a range extender and it would work, and then recharge it over night.

Even with the range extender, you'd still reduce emissions a lot.

[fullychargedshow]

@Jesus45U I agree, many van drivers would cover more, but, and okay this is hypothetical, if you could charge them while you're working, particularly phone technician, couple of hours at each job, 30 amp charge point and you've got 50 miles range in an hour of charging.

[gene978]

Can the batteries be recycled ?

[fullychargedshow]

@gene978 Only around 98% of the materials in the batteries can be recycled, again and again. Yes, they can basically. Nissan are currently building the biggest battery manufacturing and refurb plant in Europe, in Sunderland.

[johnson1095]

@fullychargedshow

i thought people in the UK drove on the right and in France, it was like here in America

[Alvord1430]

I'm trying to get my employer to purchase one of these as a shuttle vehicle between offices one mile apart. However, this electric Transit Connect is very expensive.

[CCmachine]

@fullychargedshow Driving on the left-hand side of the road is slightly safer. But this is a silly discussion. The main problem is that there isn't a standard, and switching is very expensive and not beneficial other than becoming the same as some other country.

I really liked Robert's accent there, deliverin cakes and bread xD

[Jesus45U]

@headrushchow

Oh yeah, with short distances like that, electric makes sense.

Especially while sitting in a queue, all you would use is the energy for stuff like air con / headlamps / brake servo - It would make a huge difference. That said, not all van drivers could use one, but I'm sure some could use them just fine. :)

[headrushchow]

@Jesus45U I agree, and therefore would still like a real world tests and see what the mileage is. I would LOVE to have a electric van for my work around town. My longest drive is about 40 miles for the round trip, but I only do that on rare occasions, most of them are only 10 miles. I have thought about converting my old van to electric, but time and money are at a premium.

[Jesus45U]

@headrushchow

While the lower speed would make a difference in real life milage, it should also be noted, that most tests are done with empty vehicles ... which is not normal in the real world. And a heavy load can make a huge difference in real life milage, especially in city driving.

It's a "what they loose on the swings, they gain on the roundabouts" situation.

[XitUp]

@advandermeer I've driven a lwb van, and one of those big American day vans, but never a proper truck.

How many miles a day does the average van/truck do, I'd guess it's a lot more than the average car, hence no EVs.

How much would the batteries have an impact on CoG of a fully loaded van?

[advandermeer]

@XitUp Look at Tesla Model S or the BMW i3. Both cars will have their batteries as a part of the chassis of the car. Trucks cannot be EV´s yet, but I´d seriously consider a true EV van the size of the Renault Trafic. I´d be very willing to sacrifice 2 inches cargo space, but I doubt it would be necessary.

Have you ever driven a fully loaded commercial vehicle? The higher you load, the higher the CoG. If the car itself has a low CoG it will improve the stability of the loaded car.

[XitUp]

@advandermeer Are your vans not stable enough.

Where would you put batteries without them eating into your load space?

[advandermeer]

@XitUp Any vehicle benefits from a low CoG. I have three commercial vehicles, from Renault Trafic upto DAF 95 and even at low speeds (50 KPH/30 MPH) I´d like them to be stable to keep the cargo where it is. Commercial vehicles are usually relatively high, so lowering the CoG is great.

I said well spread weight, not 50-50. You obviously want loading capacity in the back so it´s probably 35/65 when the car is empty.