The vehicle was one of the stars of Ford’s stand, along with the new Ranger pick-up, and two dealerships in London, and sites in Bristol and Warrington will be the only places the vehicle can be bought initially, though Ford Retail’s 30 sites, trading as Dagenham Motors, Brunel Ford, Heartlands Ford, Lindsay Ford and Polar Ford, will be able to service the vehicles.
Azure Dynamics’ European sales and marketing director Gary Whittam told What Van? that the firm would be looking to make sure the 80-mile range electric vehicles are only sold to customers where EVs fit into their usage. “We’re happy to say to customers that the vehicle won’t be suitable,” he said. “It’s important at the start that you qualify customers, and it will work for those doing a pre-defined route in a set and standard environment.”
Whittam predicted 300-500 Azure Ford Transit Connect Electric models would be sold in the UK this year, rising into four figures in a full year.
There is also a five-seat window van variant that has been developed, but there’s no decision made on whether that will be launched. “We want to push the van and not cloud the water,” he said. “I have three orders for the window van but haven’t accepted or rejected them. At the moment I’m inclined to concentrate on the van market.”
