When unveiled in Barcelona, the new Ford E-Transit wasn't the single standout player. Instead, Americans rely on a sustainable, all-in-one solution for loading and unloading commercial vehicles with the new Ford Pro concept. The star of Ford Pro is the team. According to Ford, the Ford Transit is the world's best-selling van in the light commercial vehicle segment.
Ford Pro wants to and should function as a holistic service solution for company fleets of any size. In addition, companies should be supported in switching to pure electric fleets.
The service is wide-ranging and includes around 200 converters that can convert the standard vehicles according to customer-specific requirements (refrigerated vehicles, shelving solutions, etc.). In addition, individual charging solutions from large-area charging systems via the personal wall box at home are part of Ford Pro. A separate charging subscription is free for all e-transit buyers in the first year.
Most of Ford Pro, on the other hand, is invisible. The FordLiive software checks vehicle data in real-time and determines, for example, whether there is any need for repairs. If so, a fault diagnosis is ordered, a workshop appointment is made, and, if necessary, suitable spare parts are also ordered. The FordLiive software scans the entire fleet and aims to minimize and control vehicle downtime.
According to Ford, more than 620,000 Ford commercial vehicles in Europe are already networked with FordLiive. As a result, European users would have benefited from 125,000 additional operating days of their vehicles, together with the telematics software, which reports live location and range, if the battery charge is too low, and also the speed of the vehicle, the current status of the vehicle fleet can be checked at any time. In addition, with a plug-in device, the "Ford Pro Telematics" functions can also be used in vehicles from other manufacturers. And for small businesses or one-man businesses, there's a Fordpass Pro smartphone app that takes care of vehicle management.
Further elements of Ford Pro are individual vehicle or fleet financing and a network of workshop and service vehicles. There are also 800 specialized Ford Transit Centers throughout Europe.
Ford Pro seems to be a sustainable and holistic concept for the commercial vehicle management of tomorrow - if it weren't for this one snag: the trend equipment package has a price of 72,400 euros. That's a lot of money for a panel van – subsidies or not. The Ford e-transit, built at the Ford Otosan plant in Kocaeli, Turkey, is available now. Its smaller brother, the Ford E-Transit Custom, will follow in 2023. The e-team at Ford's commercial vehicles - it's growing.
