Four Ford Transit Connect electric vehicles have been put into operation by Detroit Edison (DTE).
President and chief operating officer of DTE, Steven Kurmas presented two of the vehicles at the company’s headquarters in Detroit announcing that they will be used by field crews performing repair and maintenance operations to electrical lines and other equipment on the electric distribution system.
He believes that the addition of the all-electric vehicles will help Detroit Edison advance the use of electric vehicles in a couple of ways – including learning first hand how they perform and how to best make use of their characteristics; and how the use of electric vehicles by consumers and businesses will impact the electrical system.
The Ford Transit Connect Electric is a pure battery electric powered version of the Transit with aForce Drivebattery electric powertrain from Azure Dynamics and Johnson Controls-Saft’s advanced lithium-ion battery technology. It has a target range of 50-80miles on a full charge and can be recharged with a 240V or 120V outlet.
It is just the first in a new line-up of electric vehicles from Ford – it will be followed by the Focus Electric, C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in 2012; and a next generation hybrid later in the same year.
