Ford Pro is now shipping the first production units of its all-electric E-Transit cargo van to customers across Europe from the Ford Otosan factory in Turkey, Kallanish reports.

More than 5,000 customer orders for E-Transit had been received before commercial vehicles began rolling off the assembly line at the Golcuk plant in Kocaeli, Turkey. The plant is capable of producing 650,000 vehicles/year.

Ford Otosan, a joint venture between US-based Ford Motor Co and Koc Holding, is now moving to full mass production of the electrified cargo vans, following the February production of similar vehicles in the United States at Ford’s Kansas City assembly plant in Missouri.

Ford has said it wants to sell 2 million electric vehicles/year by 2026 including 600,000 vehicles in Europe. Ford is launching E-Transit under the umbrella of Ford Pro, its standalone commercial vehicle business. E-Transit is the all-electric version of the company’s top-selling cargo van and Ford is largely targeting European fleet operators.

“This is the first step in a transformation of the Kocaeli site which will become a major centre for electric commercial vehicle manufacturing in Europe,” says Hans Schep, general manager of Ford Pro, Europe, at last week’s ceremony to mark the occasion.

Ford Otosan is investing EUR 2 billion ($2.2 billion) under a 2020 agreement to boost European production including the next-generation Transit Custom models. Production could grow to 900,000 electrified vehicles/year with Ford Otosan’s recent acquisition of a Romanian auto factory.

Last month, Ford announced that it will add four all-electric Transit models by 2024 in Europe as well as form a new JV with Koc Holding and SK On Co to boost EV battery production in Europe. Battery production in Ankara, Turkey, could begin mid-decade with annual capacity of up to 45 gigawatt hours.