Thor Forums

[Chance]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

That Fiesta was a one off prototype, 7 years ago and they only put motors in the rear wheels (I think it was a technology demonstrator for the company that made the motors).

Electric cars really didn't take off until someone demonstrated something that could do 0-60 fast (up until that point people simply considered them glorified golf carts). EVs had to be better than a gas powered car before people would take them seriously.

Seven years is a long time in fast-developing EV technology, and if we haven’t seen numerous applications already, it’s likely it didn’t work out quite as expected or promoted. I can still see the benefit for small urban EVs though.

A little research shows the base eSprinter in Europe is FWD, much like the upcoming Fiat Ducato, but I expect that is more important there to keep weight down. Battery capacity for the electric Sprinter is very limited as is the payload. Greater battery capacity reduces payload even more.

In US the Chanje electric heavy-duty van relies on RWD and is designed for up to 6,000 pounds of cargo. This is many times greater than the eSprinter, which partly explains the need for RWD (improved traction when fully loaded), live axle, and truck-like leaf spring rear suspension. Note in picture below that they add two drive motors on the rear axle, which obviously increases unsprung mass. Ride harshness is probably not that important in a cargo van.

It’s difficult to imagine Ford would do something this crude with Transit electric van.