Ford Launches the Vehicles America Needs. One is a Van, the Other a Taxi

Filed in archive Ford on February 24, 2010

Although the news this week is all about Spyker finalising its purchase of Saab and about Toyota testifying at a Congressional hearing, any comments I make would only be those of an interested bystander. Instead I prefer to focus my attention, and hopefully yours, to a Ford product launch that recently took place at the Chicago Auto Show, namely the 2011 Transit Connect Electric and the Transit Connect Taxi. Both vehicles will go on sale before the end of the year. To place this in perspective I should add that I consider the Transit Connect itself to be significant because, for the first time in decades, businesses large and small can own an affordable yet compact van suitable for local delivery or service calls. It was, not surprisingly, designed in Europe, where a premium is placed on fuel economy. North Americans are finally awakening to the advantages of such a van.

The Transit Connect Electric is the next step in commercial vehicles. It combines the logic of Ford's compact van with the clean, exceptionally low-cost advantage of battery power. Although range is always a consideration with electric vehicles, they're ideally suited to urban/suburban use where driving hours are predictable and recharging is easily available. Ford claims a range of 80 miles per charge and a top speed of 75 miles per hour. The van is equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack that recharges with a 240-volt outlet in six to eight hours. The Transit Connect Electric is also 120 volt compatible (though charge time is likely to be considerably longer). Ford says the battery pack should last the life of the vehicle. I anticipate Transit Connect Electric vans becoming a common sight in our cities within the next 24 months.



As pleased as I am with the Electric I'm ecstatic over the Transit Connect Taxi. Here's why: Four decades ago I was transferred from New York to London by my then employer, the J. Walter Thompson ad agency. My wife and I quickly became acquainted with the London taxi, a vehicle so specialised it had become an icon in movies, TV shows, and even commercials eager to identify themselves with the city. Incredibly manoeuverable and spacious, those Austin and Beardmore cabs were rugged and, for their owners, cheap to run. We loved the fact that five could sit in the passenger compartment by using the flip-down rear-facing seats and we appreciated the privacy glass between ourselves and the driver. By comparison American taxis (even the revered, purpose-built Checker) felt like pregnant elephants.

In time the big Checkers were phased out. Owners switched to modified family sedans that were, and still are, as suited to taxi work as a sports car is to a city bus. Over the years several companies, some far-sighted entrepreneurs, and even the city of New York, attempted to wean cab owners off their oversized and cramped vehicles but with no success. Even the minivan, which is far more logical for the purpose, swayed only a few reactionary cabbies. Enter the Transit Connect Taxi, which makes so much sense that the most stubborn cab owner must surely sit up and pay attention. Ford says the taxi edition (and the base model Transit Connect) will come with a choice of three engines. In addition to a 2-liter 4-cylinder engine, there'll also be versions that run on compressed natural gas and propane. The Transit Connect Taxi in Chicago was painted yellow and featured a checkered pattern on the back half. Could that have been a wake-up call for Manhattan cab drivers?

I'm so pleased with the launch of the Transit Connect Taxi that the first time I see one on the road I'll hail it and take a ride, even if I have nowhere to go. Wouldn't you, if you'd waited 40 years for a cab to come along?