Ford unveiled the chassis cab variant of its new Transit City one-tonne van at the IAA Transportation show in Hannover, six months after revealing the fifth and first all-electric member of the Transit family.
The chassis cab is the latest part of the joint programme between Ford and Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC) which has been building Transits for the Chinese market for 30 years. JMC is producing all of the new Transit City models, starting with the ‘L1H1’ and ‘L2H2’ vans.
The Transit City is aimed squarely at urban operators – it has a driving range of up to 157 miles, according to Ford twice the daily average of a typical van working in an urban environment, and using a suitable DC charger will recharge from 10% to 80% in just over half an hour, adding 30 miles in 10 minutes.
The chassis cab conversions on show at Hannover demonstrate options available to customers in the form of a box van, a refrigerated version, a racked van and a dropside with an open load bay.
Businesses requiring conversions will be able to work with the Ford Pro Special Vehicles division and a network of 200 approved conversion specialists. The design of the Transit City chassis cab has drawn on experience gained with larger Transit models to ease the conversion process, with such features as optimised chassis rails, standardised bolt patterns and clear no-drill zones.
The box van conversion, produced by body builder Scattolini, makes use of the vehicle’s electric platform and resultant low floor to do without a tail lift. The box is of GRP sandwiching insulating foam, producing a load volume of 10.4m3, with a load length of 3.01 metres and height of 1.8 metres. Payload capacity is up to 1120kg.
The refrigerated version is currently a concept, making use of an electric power take-off that will be available to Transit City customers some time in 2027. It is expected to appeal to operators of last-mile supermarket and pharmaceutical delivery vans.
Adding a steel subframe and aluminium side and tailboards to the chassis cab, plus a ply load bed, has created a dropside vehicle. It will take a payload of up to 1300kg in its 3.13 x 2m load bay.
Also on show is a racked van that appears to be a standard Transit City on the outside but in the load bay employs a modular system of aluminium uprights and adjustable shelving to hold tools, drawers and containers. Designed by specialist Sortimo it is expected to appeal particularly to utility workers.
Order books for the Transit City opened after its debut at the UK Commercial Vehicle Show in April and the first vehicles are expected on UK roads before the end of 2026.
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