All About Japan Autos

The most talked about green cars — the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf — are built for small families who don’t travel far to go to work, school or grocery store. With a solid selection of eco-friendly sedans on the market, it’s difficult for businesses to decrease their foot print.

Ford is fixing this problem. This week the automaker announced that it shipped the Transit Connect Electric to select customers in the United States and United Kingdom.

“Co-developed with Azure Dynamics, the Ford Transit Connect Electric is being built by AM General in Livonia, Michigan,” says Left Lane News. “Development of the commercial EV has been swift, with the van going from concept to production in just 13 months.”

If you’re interested in the Transit Connect, you’ll have to wait until Ford increases its distribution base. Currently, businesses who have ordered the electric vehicle are large corporations like AT&T, Johnson Controls Inc. and the New York Power Authority. The Transit Connect will reach full production in April 2011, but Ford will only produce 600 or 700 vehicles annually. The automaker has not stated when small business owners will have access to the Transit.

In the mean time, decide if the Transit Connect will suit your business once availability increases. Ford gives the details: “The all-electric, zero-emissions Transit Connect Electric has a driving range of up to 80 miles per full charge and is ideal for fleet owners who have well-defined routes of predictable distances and a central location for daily recharging. Delivery fleet and utility vehicle operators have begun to show a preference for smaller, more efficient vehicles, which creates an ideal time for Transit Connect Electric to come to market.”

The Connect, however, isn’t cheap. “The electric Transit Connect costs $57,400, more than double the price of the gas-powered version even after federal and any state or local incentives for electric vehicles are factored in,” says the New York Times. In 2011, the more businesses will pay MSPR because incentives for green cars will expire. “The feds, and most states offering such incentives, have put caps on their zero-emission incentive programs, and most will vanish by mid-decade,” Autoblog explains.

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