See, feel and touch

By Colin Windell

Visitors to the Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC in Birmingham (April 24 – April 26) will have plenty to see feel and even drive.

Throughout the three days of the show, visitors wishing to take part in the Volkswagen Crafter driving experience will be transported from the stand to a designated driving area, where, accompanied by pro-drivers, they will have the chance to challenge their driving skills and put the Crafter’s technical features to the test.

Three challenges, based around agility, urban driving and towing a trailer will demonstrate how the Crafter’s electro-mechanical steering system, park assist, reversing cameras, side protect assist and trailer assist help make light work of the toughest driving jobs.

The all-electric van from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, the eCrafter, will be making its UK debut at the show ahead of real-world testing beginning with UK customers at the start of May.

The first test vehicles were handed over to a group of major European customers at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ headquarters in Hannover in December. By allowing the vehicle to undergo tests with selected fleet operators, the company will be able to incorporate findings and learnings into the final design and production version of the zero-emission van.

Four UK customers are taking part in the tests: Gatwick Airport, Heathrow Airport, City of London Corporation and the London Borough of Southwark.

Like the conventionally-fuelled Crafter, the eCrafter was designed in collaboration with customers – in particular those whose vehicles cover between 70 km and 100 km per day, sometimes involving many starts and stops. These parameters apply to around 85% of the trips made in an urban setting according to analysis of more than 210 000 driving profiles with more than 1 500 customers. The eCrafter has been tailored precisely to these typical city operations with its 100 kW power output, range of around 160 km and top speed limited to 90 km/h.

Ford will be giving debuts to three new versions of its popular Transit at the show.

The Transit Custom gets a new nose in line with the styling of the new Fiesta hatchback, while its new cabin features harder wearing materials, along with 25-litres of stowage space in the dashboard, 2,0-litre bottle holders and Ford’s Sync 3 connectivity system including wi-fi.

Ford has also added a new Econetic variant to the range, powered by a Dagenham-built 2,0-litre Ecoblue engine. The new model produces 77 kW and 148 g/km of CO2 emissions and comes with auto stop-start, low rolling resistance tyres and a 100 km/h speed limiter.

It offers a combined fuel economy figure of 5,7 l/100 km, a 6% improvement over the most efficient version of the current model.

The Transit Connect benefits from the latest Ford engine technology, with the new 1,5-litre EcoBlue diesel engine meeting Euro 6.2 emission standards, as well as offering reduced fuel consumption.

It is also available with an updated version of the 1,0-litre petrol EcoBoost engine, including cylinder deactivation for further reductions in emissions and running costs. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard with an eight-speed automatic available as an option.

The Courier is the smallest model in the Transit range and can be specified with a 1,5-litre TDCi diesel or 1,0-litre petrol EcoBoost engine, both offered with a six-speed manual transmission as standard.

Diesel models are also specified as standard with an efficiency pack which features optimised aerodynamics. Available in van and combi bodystyles, the Transit Courier has a payload ranging from 500 kg to 590 kg and load volumes of up to 2,4 cubic metres.