Ford Transit Custom vs Ford Transit

What's the difference?

The Ford Transit Custom Trail has plenty of appeal as a work van or a camper fit-out candidate. It’s a well-packaged, comfortable and contemporary van that’s nice to drive and as a bonus, with all-wheel drive it’s given the scope of capability to be able to tackle mild off-roading situations with confidence.

It’s built for work and play and though it’s limited to two-up for travels, the Trail offers so much potential as a camper conversion for adventure seekers its few niggles are easily forgotten when you’re busy making memories.

Ford has taken an unorthodox approach to entering the electric vehicle market in Australia, avoiding the hype around the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning and instead laying the foundations with the E-Transit.

But it’s a savvy move, giving the brand a chance to enter what should be a largely untapped market with a vehicle that should appeal to what buyers are looking for. With unchanged space compared to the diesel-powered Transit, the switch to a more powerful electric powertrain makes the E-Transit a win-win scenario for those with a suitable daily driving routine.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

It looks like a van but with some striking yet low-key flourishes that all kind of work as a whole. Those include a Trail grille and the matt black alloy wheels. The yellow sticker-pack is a neat touch.

The Trail has more presence than a regular Trend with its 30mm-taller raised suspension and overall adventure-ready look with strong front end and chunky wheel arches.

The striking but low-key theme continues inside with a neatly laid-out yet spartan cabin. The two synthetic leather seats are topped with Trail embossing and lined with yellow stitching.

The cabin is separated from the rear cargo area by a bulkhead, which incorporates a small wired window.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the design is there’s nothing very different about the E-Transit compared to the regular Transit. Which is a good thing, because the Transit is already a popular delivery van so any change for the sake of difference may have messed with the winning formula.

In fact, the design element that is important is the way Ford has laid the battery packs flat inside the ladder-frame chassis which means none of the cargo space has been compromised. This means the E-Transit has the same load area as its internal combustion equivalent, which is key for any delivery van.

It’s a van so there are two distinct sections to the Trail, the cabin and the load space.

Firstly, the cabin. More a work-friendly than family-friendly interior, this Trail is a two-seater with plenty of durable plastic everywhere – ready for work and life – as well as charging (with USB-A and -C ports) and storage (including a van-favourite dash-top slot for logbooks etc, outboard moulded cupholders and a nifty pop-out cupholder), all amenities enough to cope with most daily van-related duties.

The seats are comfortable, supportive and have a fold-down lock-in-place armrest.

Now for the load space. There are no seats back there and as such it has plenty of potential as a work van or touring vehicle.

Access to the rear load space is via a barn door at the back and this Trail has a sliding door on both sides.

The cargo area is substantial – 3002mm long (to the bulkhead; 3450mm long if load-through hatch is used), 1392mm wide (between wheel arches) and 1425mm high (floor to roof). Easily big enough for work equipment or recreational gear. It can cope with four Euro pallets (each measuring 1200mm x 800mm) and it has a listed maximum load volume (with the bulkhead) of 6.8 cubic metres.

Load height through the rear barn doors is 531-585mm, depending on how much weight is already onboard.

The load space has the aforementioned metal bulkhead (with window and load-through hatch), load area protection kit (full height walls and moulded floor), LED lights and eight tie-down loops.

Otherwise, this is a load area ripe for customisation. Maybe a plethora of shelves for a tradie, or some bedding and extra storage for an adventurous person or couple.

The cabin is very similar to what you’ll find in the Transit, so there will be familiarity for anyone making the switch from the diesel-powered version. The rotary shifter and 12.0-inch tablet-style multimedia screen make for a smart look but also means minimal space is wasted.

It’s a thoughtfully designed cabin, with plenty of usable storage spaces, including three cup-holders, a pair of bottle-holders and deep storage shelves on the top of the dashboard. The doors are particularly noteworthy, with multiple storage areas carved into the available space.

The seats are comfortable and, naturally with a high-roof van, there’s plenty of head room which creates a spacious feeling.

Behind the seats is the cargo area. In the US-specification E-Transit we drove there was a dividing wall between the cabin and the back of the van, with a small sliding door to access the cargo area, but it’s unlikely this will be offered in Australia. Instead, local models will likely have a hard divider between the cabin and back, with a small window for visibility.

As mentioned earlier, the floorspace in the E-Transit remains the same as the Transit thanks to the battery being laid underneath the floor, so there’s plenty of cargo volume that will please fleet buyers. 

In the US the E-Transit’s cargo area measures 11.3-cubic-metres with the medium-height roof and expands to 12.4cu/m with the high-roof body.

Ford says the “targeted payload” will be 1616kg.

Ford Australia originally announced the E-Transit would arrive by “mid-2022” but that date has been pushed back thanks to the ongoing supply challenges faced by most car companies.

While the initial technical details have been confirmed - the first model available will be the 420L long-wheelbase version - the company hasn’t locked in detailed local specifications and pricing yet.

The closest comparison in the current Transit range is the 350L, which is available in both mid- and high-roof variants. Based on the model we test drove in the US, there are similar specifications between the two, including 16-inch steel wheels, partial-leather-trimmed seats and Ford’s SYNC4 multimedia system displayed on a 12.0-inch centrally mounted screen. 

While pricing isn't confirmed, it's likely the E-Transit will carry a premium over the Transit so we'd estimate a starting price in the mid-$60,000 range.

The Ford Transit Custom Trail has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine producing 125kW at 3500rpm and 390Nm at 1750-2500rpm.

The Trail has a clever eight-speed automatic transmission and an on-demand all-wheel drive system.

It all works rather well, but it’s a van afterall and as such it is less dynamic and more dependably driveable than perhaps a cross-shopped SUV wagon. However, as an AWD van the Trail can be trusted to keep its grip on wet bitumen, soggy grass and loosely-gravelled tracks and that’s a strong part of its appeal over a 2WD van.

One element of the E-Transit we are clear on is what’s under the bonnet. The E-Transit is powered by an 198kW/430Nm electric motor that powers the rear wheels and draws energy from a 68kWh battery.

That means the E-Transit is the most powerful member of the Transit family, with the rest of the range powered by the 125kW/390Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine.

Ford claims the E-Transit has a range of 317km (on the WLTP cycle), which may not sound like a lot for a commercial van but Ford claims in the US the daily average for such vehicles is only 120km.  

In order to save charge, the E-Transit is equipped with an Eco Mode which limits top speed, regulates acceleration and limits climate control settings. Ford claims this allows the driver to cut energy usage by between eight to 10 per cent when driven at highway speeds or when unladen. 

The Ford Transit Custom Trail has an official combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel consumption figure of 8.5L/100km. On this test I recorded 8.8L/100km.

The Trail has a 70-litre fuel tank so going by my on-test fuel figure you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 795km from a full tank of diesel. However, as with any vehicle, once you’ve loaded the Trail with real-world burdens (e.g kids, dogs, camping gear, etc) you’ll soon see that fuel consumption increase.

Charging will be a key element of the E-Transit’s appeal (or not) to buyers, with fleets needing to maximise the van’s time on the road. Ford claims that with a 115kW DC fast-charger the E-Transit battery can go from 15 per cent charge to 80 per cent in just 34 minutes.

With the onboard 11.3kW charger it takes 8.2 hours to get the battery back to 100 per cent capacity.

The E-Transit supports bi-directional use of the battery too. In the US the E-Transit is available with its Pro Power Onboard technology as an option. This allows for the driver to draw up to 2.4kW of power from the vehicle’s battery to power tools and other equipment as necessary. 

One feature that is confirmed for the Australian-bound E-Transit is what Ford calls, Scheduled Pre-Conditioning. This is a system that allows the operator to pre-set the climate control for the cabin while the van is still on charge so that you can still have maximum charge available when you start driving.

It’s easy to get in and out of the Trail’s driver seat with a wide-opening door and a big step to help you inside.

The seats are comfortable and it’s simple enough to dial-in your driving position via the tilt-and-reach adjustable steering wheel and manually-adjustable seat.

Word of warning: the auto transmission is operated via a stalk mounted on the right-hand side of the steering wheel column, which takes some getting used to.

Once underway, the Trail is punchy enough around town and in the suburbs with its 2.0L 'EcoBlue' turbo-diesel engine offering a more-than-adequate amount of power and torque (125kW and 390Nm) and its clever auto helping out with nifty moves through traffic (for a van, anyway).

Visibility is impressive from the cabin and you’re afforded a convenient vantage point with the Trail standing a bit taller than its regular Transit Custom stablemates as it’s on lifted suspension, but feeling composed on most surfaces.

The Trail has a listed kerb weight of 2046kg and a turning circle of 12.1m, pretty standard for a long wheelbase van, so this is not an insubstantial vehicle and it’s a bit tricky to 'flip a u-ee' if the situation demands it.

It has six drive modes – 'Normal', 'Eco', 'Slippery', 'Tow/Haul', 'Sport', 'Trail' – which each adjust engine torque, throttle response and traction control, among other things, to suit the road surface and conditions.

But we’re all here to see how it goes off-road, aren’t we?

Well, obviously this is no rock-crawling machine and it’s not intended to be. It’s best thought of as having an all-wheel drive system that gives this van mild off-road capabilities, as in it can tackle wet bitumen, soggy grass, lightly corrugated bush tracks and very shallow mud puddles with more confidence than the Transit Custom Trend it's based on.

In a nutshell, the AWD Trail will be able to handle most low-level traction-compromised scenarios. But it does not have enough ground clearance, wheel articulation, grip or underbody protection to tackle any terrain beyond modest off-roading.

Speaking of grip, the Trail as standard rides on Bridgestone Duravis R660 (215/65 R16) rubber, a van/light truck commercial tyre and they are not so well suited to dirt tracks and the like. Grippier all-terrain tyres would help this van perform slightly better off-road than on its showroom rubber.

In its favour, the Trail has a front skid plate and underbody protection in case it cops some knock from the ground during its adventures.

Not in its favour, however, especially as a potential touring vehicle, is the fact it has a space-saver spare wheel and tyre.

If you’re thinking of using your Trail as a tourer, it’s worth knowing payload is listed as 1179kg, maximum braked trailer towing capacity is 2500kg, Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) is 3225kg and GCM is 5725kg.

Electric vehicles have earned a reputation for rapid, exciting acceleration… but that’s not the case with the E-Transit. Performance could best be described as modest, with adequate but unspectacular acceleration.

Which is fine, because the E-Transit is not meant to be a ‘ludicrously’ quick van, instead it’s meant to haul a load as efficiently as possible. On that front it does a good job, with smooth (albeit gentle) acceleration and steady pulling power.

It’s important to note, though, that our test car was unladen - with only some shelving installed in the back. So we’ll have to reserve judgement on how the E-Transit performs with a full load on-board, on Australian roads.

The rest of the driving experience is as you’ll find with the Transit. The steering is nicely weighted and direct, which makes manoeuvring such a huge vehicle straightforward. 

The ride is on the firm side, which isn’t unusual for either a van or an electric vehicle as it needs to control so much weight, but it isn’t uncomfortable and offers good control.

The current Transit is not rated by ANCAP, as is the case with most of its full-size van rivals because the safety authority tends to focus on the mid-size vans - such as the Transit Custom, Toyota HiAce and Hyundai Staria-Load.

However, the E-Transit does have a solid safety package, with driver and passenger front, side and curtain airbags all standard. While the E-Transit’s local safety package isn’t locked in, the Transit already boasts autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning, rollover mitigation, side-wind stabilisation, trailer sway control and traffic-sign recognition, so it’s probably a safe bet these will all be included on the E-Transit. 

We drove the high-roof E-Transit in the US and with a high-mounted reversing camera it was surprisingly easy to navigate for such a big vehicle.

Ford’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty applies to the Trail.

Servicing is set down for every 12 months or 30,000km and capped-price servicing is offered. Four scheduled services will set you back $2000 (including a brake fluid change at year three) which isn't over the top for a vehicle of this type.

Ford Australia has about 195 independent Ford dealers in Australia, with many located in metropolitan or suburban areas.

Ford Australia has already confirmed that the E-Transit will be covered by Ford’s now-standard five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, plus an extended eight-year/160,000km warranty specifically for the battery and high-voltage electric components.