Latest Auto News Blog: Ford's new electric van for 2010 will come from Europe

Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Minivans/MPVs, Green, Ford

Click above for a gallery of the Ford Transit Connect van

Ford's business plan submitted to Congress a few weeks ago indicated that the Detroit-based automaker would be offering a "full battery electric vehicle in a van-type vehicle for commercial fleet use in 2010." Up until this point, we were left to speculate on the basis for the new EV, but Ford CEO Alan Mulally has now revealed that the new Blue Oval van will be based on the European Ford Transit that's scheduled to hit U.S. shores in the summer of 2009. We expect to hear more about the upcoming electric van over the next few months, possibly at the Detroit Auto Show in January, but the fact that it'll be based on the Transit should come as little surprise. The only other cargo vehicle that the automaker has at its disposal is the full-size, rear-wheel-drive E-Series, and that platform would be much less appropriate for an urban electric vehicle than the lighter, front-wheel-drive Transit van.

Gallery: Ford Transit Connect