London trial announced for Ford's PHEV Transit Custom

Ford has announced a 12-month trial of 20 new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Transit Custom vans in a project supported by Transport for London.

The vans will aim to reduce local emissions by running solely on electric power for the majority of city trips. The project is supported by the Government-funded Advanced Propulsion Centre and is scheduled to launch in autumn this year,

“This exciting project in London shows how innovative technology can help improve the prosperity and quality of life in our congested cities,” said Jim Farley, chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe.

The Transit Custom PHEV vans feature an efficient on-board combustion engine for extended range when longer trips are required. The trial fleet will use a Ford telematics system to collect data on the vehicles’ financial, operational and environmental performance to help understand how the benefits of electrified vehicles can be maximised.

Development of the 20 Transit Custom PHEV fleet trial vehicles has been supported by a £4.7m grant from the Advanced Propulsion Centre. The vans are being designed and engineered at Ford’s Dunton technical centre, and at Prodrive Advanced Technology in Banbury, with programme support from Revolve Technologies.

The Transit Custom PHEV van is planned for commercial introduction in 2019, part of the automaker’s $4.5 billion investment in electrified vehicles by 2020. It is one of 13 new global electrified vehicles Ford is launching in the next five years.