Ford Transit Custom plug-in hybrid 2019: first details

Ford has recently announced that the company is to produce no less than 13 new electric vehicles in the next 5 years. As part of its plan, Ford is now working on a plug-in hybrid version of one of the best-selling vans in the world - the Transit Custom.

Conceived as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), this new addition to the Transit Custom series in the range of Ford delivery vans will be driven by an electric motor alongside a regular engine. Meanwhile, a battery pack is claimed to be large enough to provide for several miles of electric-only running. What the manufacturer hasn't confirmed yet is whether the conventional engine working in combination with the electric motor and batteries will be diesel or petrol. But there are suggestions that Ford is likely to use the new 2.0-litre EcoBlue turbodiesel that was introduced in late 2016.

The advantages of a PHEV include the ability to store a significant amount of power while outputting extremely low CO2 emissions and using much less fuel. It means that such vehicles have the potential to be very cheap to operate for both private and company car drivers.

Though, there are still some problematic aspects, namely weight and cost, as electric motors and batteries are heavy and expensive. But by 2019, when the Transit Custom PHEV becomes available, it should be both more affordable and more efficient.