Ford Electrifies DTE Energy Field Service with Transit Connect Electric Vans
DTE Energy will be using Ford Transit Connect Electric trucks in its field fleet as part of its effort to use more alternative-fuel vehicles.
DTE took delivery of two of the trucks in a Detroit ceremony Friday featuring Detroit Edison president and COO Steven Kurmas.
The all-electric, zero-emission Transit Connect Electric features the Force Drive powertrain from Oak Park-based Azure Dynamics Corp. It offers a range of up to 80 miles per charge, and can be recharged with either 110-volt or 240-volt outlets.
Suburban Ford of Sterling Heights, one of the first Transit Connect Electric dealerships, supplied the vehicles and is the first Ford dealership to offer a full line of gas, hybrid and electric vehicles.
The Transit Connect Electrics will be used by Detroit Edison field crews performing repair and maintenance and operations to electrical lines and other equipment on the electric distribution system.
"The addition of these all-electric Transit Connects to our fleet will help Detroit Edison advance the use of electric vehicles in a couple of ways," said Kurmas. "First, we will learn firsthand how these vehicles perform in day-to-day field operations and how we can make the best use of their unique characteristics. Second, they will help us learn more about how the use of electric vehicles by consumers and businesses will impact the electrical system and what utilities need to do to support adoption of these vehicles."
The vehicles also feature Johnson Controls-Saft's advanced lithium-ion batteries built in Holland.
Transit Connect Electric is the first product in Ford's accelerated electrified vehicle plan, and will be followed by the Focus Electric, the C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in 2012 and another next-generation hybrid vehicle later in 2012.
More at www.fordmotorcompany.com, www.dteenergy.com or www.azuredynamics.com.
