Ford's Transit Connect Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), the all-electric van that will be in production beginning in late 2010, has chosen Johnson Controls-Saft as the Lithium-ion battery supplier for Azure Dynamic's Force Drive integration on the vehicle.
"Johnson Controls-Saft is committed to the commercialization of hybrid and electric vehicles," said Ray Shemanski, General Manager of Hybrid Systems for Johnson Controls. This partnership is underscored by our investment of more than $600 million in manufacturing and infrastructure development."
The Transit Connect BEV has a targeted range of 80 miles on all-electric power, and is the first of four electric vehicles Ford plans to build in its global commercial vehicle program.
The Transit Connect BEV will use the same battery technology that is currently installed in the Ford Escape test fleet of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, also supplied by Johnson Controls-Saft.
The Johnson Controls-Saft battery systems, including electronics, electrical and mechanical components, will be assembled at the company's facility in Holland, Mich.. Azure Dynamics has not announced the manufacturing location for the Transit Connect BEV.
In addition to its work with Azure, Johnson Controls-Saft is in production with the Mercedes S-Class hybrid. The company will also supply the Li-ion hybrid batteries for the BMW 7-Series ActiveHybrid available in 2010 and Ford's first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle available in 2012.
