I’ve always been of the opinion that electric vehicles aren’t well-suited to being outright replacements for all gas vehicles. They’re very different tools for very different jobs, but thanks in part to their disparate strengths, they are exceptionally well-suited alternatives for a sizable subset of cargo vans that spend most of their lives making deliveries and service calls in big cities. For this application, you’d be hard pressed to do better than the 2025 Ford E-Transit electric cargo van.

Van life: gas vs. electric

With a maximum estimated range of 256 kilometres—238 and 230 km for medium and high-roof models, respectively—from its newly expanded 89 kWh lithium ion battery pack tucked under the floor, the E-Transit isn’t a viable candidate for anything that calls for extended highway jaunts on a regular basis. Towing isn’t advised, either; because of its switch to coil springs for the rear suspension rather than traditional leaf springs on the gassers, payload takes a slight 300-pound dip, but is still more than workable, at 3,250 pounds.

It’s not the best tool for every job, but when I think of my recent past life, managing a craft beer brewery in Toronto, this E-Transit van would be perfectly suited to that job. Our delivery vans, a GMC Savannah and a Ford Econoline, hardly ever left town. They spent most of their days on city streets and/or sitting in traffic, and they drank an absolutely hideous amount of fuel for the distance they covered. They, like so many other cargo vans, use energy in the exact opposite way that their jobs call for.

The 2025 Ford E-Transit starts at $72,500, but this long-wheelbase, low roof, moderately equipped tester rang in at $77,700 as-tested before any government or dealer incentives. A comparably equipped gas-powered Transit would be roughly $7,500 cheaper up front, but if we go back to the example of the brewery’s vans, our annual fuel spend was over $10,000 per van. That’s not saying anything about cutting oil changes or whatever was broken out of the budget, either—with apologies to Manny, our friendly mechanic who keeps those old beasts ticking, often literally. Ford also offers a standard eight-year or 160,000-kilometre warranty on these, knowing full well they’ll likely be the hardest-working electric vehicles on the road, loaded to the hilt, battery fully run down and recharged every day. It’s something to think about when we’re calling Manny in a scramble for yet another costly transmission rebuild that’ll take one of the vans off the road for a week, again.

Real-world range and charging

On a typical 220-volt Level 2 charger, the E-Transit can charge from fully dead to fully done in about 11 hours, and can pick up a very unscientific 40ish-to-70ish per cent in a couple of hours. This new battery pack is also capable of accepting a fast charge, going from 20 to 80 per cent in half an hour at a DC fast-charging station, if your route for the day goes long. Ambient temperatures hovered around freezing for most of my time with the E-Transit, and range didn’t suffer much for it, squeezing out 248 km in the real-world—less than 3 per cent off its ideal peak.

With a standard heat pump, you don’t need debate between staying comfortable in the E-Transit or getting back to home base; heating uses very little energy, and I observed about a 1 per cent percent power loss when left not plugged at just-below-freezing temps for 12 hours. I dig how accurate the range estimator is and how it counts down in a dead linear fashion, avoiding the wild swings and scary pessimism of other EVs. Even more impressive was that my use with the E-Transit was nearly all-highway, where EVs are generally less efficient as they have hardly any opportunity to regenerate power via braking. As I observed with Ford’s F-150 Lightning pickup, regenerative braking in urban conditions—like, say, from delivering craft beer all over the city—would see its effective range go way, way up.

Driving impressions

This may not matter so much to the fleet manager buying these, but if you’re actually in the driver’s seat, you’ll appreciate that the E-Transit’s road manners improve upon the already relatively excellent gas-powered Transit. Naturally, it’s considerably quieter and smoother, feeling much more effortless to drive as a result. Ride quality is also a lot gentler with the aforementioned rear coil spring setup, and having the weight of the battery pack hanging below the floor gives the E-Transit remarkably good handling for a big cargo van. That sounds like it doesn’t matter until you have to make a last-second right-hander a little fast.

The 2025 Ford E-Transit’s single motor perched between its rear wheels delivers 266 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, which is roughly comparable to the base 3.5L V6 gas engine. The E-Transit has a distinct advantage in low-end torque, able to accelerate fairly effortlessly and merge onto a highway without worry. Power delivery is carefully metered a low speeds to prevent neck-snapping—or more to the point, load damaging—acceleration, but it doesn’t feel sluggish.

Interior comfort, practicality, and tech

The E-Transit doesn’t feel too techy for its own good, either, and it won’t alienate anyone who’s used to a traditional cargo van. There’s not much in the way of settings for drive modes, no one-pedal-driving, no variable-regen shift paddles, no gimmicks. You just get in and go, with no learning curve. The gauge cluster is familiar, too, with clearly legible analog dials and a small four-inch display showing estimated range and a quick average energy use. Even the battery life is just a repurposed gas gauge.

The cabin layout is almost exactly the same as the gas E-Transit. There’s tons of storage on top of the dash and in the door pockets, three massive cupholders, water bottle holders, and a 12-inch touch screen in the middle running Ford’s Sync 4 infotainment. It’s all easy to learn and adapt to, and the inclusion of high-res surround view cameras makes parking a cinch. Blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control takes a lot of the fatigue of driving a windowless panel van all day, and the easy-to-read steering and linear brake feel makes it so that it’s never a chore to drive. That’s an achievement in this segment, even more so given that I’m used to, you know, fancy cars.

Other niceties that already worked on the gas Transit still work on the E-Transit, like the 253-degree rear doors or the cleverly placed bumpers that stop you from constantly scoring own-goals with door dings. There’s an optional ProPower outlet out back delivering 120 volts at 2.4kW, which admittedly is an option on the gasser, but this longer necessitates running the engine to use it. This can be very helpful if there’s nosy neighbours around the job site.

Final thoughts

I won’t pretend it’s perfect for every role, or that shelling out more than $70,000 on a panel van isn’t a tall ask. But the 2025 Ford E-Transit is very good at what it does, and it does so for less than its competitors—a Ram ProMaster EV and Mercedes eSprinter start at about $10,000 and $15,000 more, respectively. For so many businesses that operate almost entirely within city limits, the E-Transit presents a very viable case for itself. Having a couple of these around would’ve made delivery days at the brewery far less of a chore.