Your plumber might soon be rolling up in an EV, as plans emerge for an all electric Ford Transit Van

By Bill Hayward

Neon-style outline illustration of an electric Ford transit van.
Image: Ford Media Center.

Commercial vans continue to sell steadily on the U.S. market, supporting the transportation needs of enterprises ranging from sole owner-operator skilled trade businesses—like your plumber—to large delivery fleets. Last fall, for example, we reported that Ford was setting records with sales of their commercial vans, including the Ford Transit. And on Tuesday, the automaker announced that an all electric Ford Transit van will be available for the 2022 model year.

“Commercial vehicles are a critical component to our big bet on electrification,” said Ford Motor Company Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley. “As leaders in this space, we are accelerating our plans to create solutions that help businesses run better, starting with our all-electric Transit and F-150. This Ford Transit isn’t just about creating an electric drivetrain, it’s about designing and developing a digital product that propels fleets forward.”

So why are commercial vans doing so well these days?

Ford, in their press release announcing the forthcoming electric Ford Transit van, puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of commercial fleets.

That makes plenty of sense. As consumers continue to shift from brick and mortar to online shopping, for example, there is an increasing need for delivery vehicles to bring the goodies to the door.

To help attract this market, Ford says they will be equipping their electric Ford Transit vans with a lot of high-tech bells and whistles that add value to large-fleet operations.

“The world is heading toward electrified products and fleet customers are asking for them now,” said Farley. “We know their vehicles operate as a connected mobile business and their technology needs are different than retail customers. So Ford is thinking deeply on connectivity relationships that integrate with our in-vehicle high-speed electrical architectures and cloud-based data services to provide these businesses smart vehicles beyond just the electric powertrains.”

However, there is another angle that makes a focus on commercial vans a smart choice. It has everything to do with demographic shifts. To understand why, think first about what’s happening in higher education and in the job market.

In higher education, currently, 56 percent of college students are women, according to the Washington Post. One reason is that, as baby boomers are beginning to retire from the workhorse, a lot of millennial males (and of course some women as well) are finding it lucrative to grab some the blue collar jobs that baby-boom generation men are leaving behind as they embark on their golden-years journey.

The same phenomenon is also creating opportunities for those interested in opening small businesses in the skilled trades. Just as, for example, mechanics who maintain machinery in factories are retiring and creating openings for millennials in the blue collar job market, independent business operators like plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, painters, and home improvement contractors from the baby boom era are also retiring.

That creates opportunities for millennials—and soon for Generation Z—to open businesses in these and similar categories. And if you’re running one of these businesses, a commercial van can be a mighty handy thing to have.

Emphasizing commercial vehicles in the march away from internal combustion engines makes a lot of sense at the macro level as well.

Those internal-combustion-powered SUVs in our driveways might get the lion’s share of public shaming from passionate environmentalists, but it’s easy to overlook pollution impact of commercial transportation.

Obviously, personal vehicles substantially outnumber commercial vehicles. But reducing pollution in the commercial transportation sector is like a surgical strike that can have a faster and more complete impact on a substantial portion of greenhouse gas emissions within the transportation space.

As the BBC noted in a 2017 article on the potential for electric trucks and vans to cut pollution faster than cars, “the need to switch to cleaner [powertrains] is even greater given that these larger vehicles are far bigger polluters than cars.”

Compared to passenger cars, the transition to electric power for commercial vehicles is also likely to encounter fewer obstacles from a lifestyle perspective.

A business owner or employee is more likely to view a commercial vehicle as a purely utilitarian object. There is less of an emotional dynamic than there is with a personal car.

An independent plumber might be strongly attached the thrill of the explosive sound and feel of an internal combustion engine in the Hellcat he drives on weekends. But he might also have no expectation of that kind of excitement from a work vehicle. Instead, he’ll likely be glad to benefit from the potential of an electric work van to cut his energy expenses.

So bring on the electric commercial vans, Ford. They’re fine with me, as long as my plumber doesn’t want to plug into my outside outlet while giving the auger treatment to the wastepipes in my house that start the poop on its journey from commode to sewer.

Or, at least, if he does want to top off the charge on his electric Ford Transit van on my dime, he’d better give me a bit of a discount on his hourly rate.

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