Ford Transit Connect Plug-In Hybrid Trial Expands to Cologne
Ford is expanding its trial of the Transit Connect Plug-In Hybrid to a third city in the spring of 2019. Ford announced this week that the City of Cologne will join London and Valencia in testing out the fleet capabilities of the Transit Connect PHEV when a fleet of 10 vans are provided to public sector groups.
The 10 Ford Transit Connect PHEVs will be awarded to five different organizations for a total of 12 months. The groups include: AWB Abfallwirtschaftsbetriebe Köln, which specializes in waste management; Cologne Bonn Airport; Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln, specializing in harbor and freight traffic; the Kölner Verkehrsbetriebe public transporat association; and regional energy company RheinEnergie.
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“For the rapidly growing city of Cologne, emission-free mobility is a crucial issue for the future,” said Henriette Reker, Mayor of the City of Cologne. “Every research project that works towards this will benefit our city. I am glad that Ford, as an automotive manufacturer with its European headquarters in Cologne, will undertake this trial.”
The Ford Transit Custom PHEV boasts zero-emissions capabilities for up to 31 miles and, with the aid of the award-winning 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine, a maximum range of 310 miles. Ford is equipping the trial vans with telematics and geofencing capabilities to ensure that they are driven using only electric power in designated low-emission zones throughout Cologne. Existing charging infrastructure will be used to keep the vans powered; the lithium-ion batteries powering the Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid can be recharged to full capacity in just three hours using a 240-volt power supply.
Ford expects to bring a production-ready version of the Transit Custom PHEV to market by the second half of 2019 as part of its push to launch 40 electrified vehicles by 2022.
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