Utilimaster, a brand of Novi’s The Shyft Group’s fleet vehicles and services business unit, announced it has worked with Ford Pro, the fleet management business unit of Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, to produce to pilot vehicles built on the all-electric Ford E-Transit chassis for customer testing.
Utilimaster is the chosen body provider for the Ford Pro E-Transit pilot program and has engineered its Velocity body to fit the E-Transit cutaway. The completed all-electric vehicle is comparable to Utilimaster’s Velocity F-Series for gas-powered Transit chassis fleet customers, designed specifically for the E-Transit’s all-electric architecture.
“The delivery market continues to demand electric options for their fleets,” says Chad Heminover, president of Shyft fleet vehicles and services. “We are confident our customers will value the benefits we can deliver by integrating the Ford all-electric E-Transit chassis with industry-leading delivery bodies and upfits.”
The other unit features a renewed Utilimaster route-delivery body often seen in the snack food industry. The pilot program vehicles are road ready and will be in use through 2023 for customer testing.
“Our work on the Ford Pro E-Transit pilot program is just the beginning of our commitment to provide the same great Utilimaster work truck and van bodies to electric fleet vehicles from Ford and other manufacturers as they come to market,” says Heminover.
The Shyft Group is a North American leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing, assembly, and upfit for the commercial, retail, and service specialty vehicle markets. It employs approximately 3,000 people across campuses and facilities in Michigan, Indiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, California, Arizona, Texas, and Saltillo, Mexico.
