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Utilimaster Corporation Tuesday unveiled March 4 at the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, Ind., a new fuel-efficient walk-in van called the Velocity.
John Forbes, president of Utilimaster, says the van offers a walk-in van capability on a Euro van chassis.
Forbes says Velocity, which is built on a Ford Transit cutaway chassis, allows full stand-up height, cargo capacities of 574, 679 and 784 cubic feet, and is scheduled for full production in the third quarter of this year.
Forbes says the van was born from a need for van with a large entry door for ease of entry and exit on multi-stop routes, improved fuel efficiency, and flexibility of configuring the cargo space for various applications.
“The ability to enter and exit curb side will save fleets 30 to 40 percent in productivity per day,” Forbes adds.
Velocity is the first walk-in van developed to support the Ford Transit gas, diesel or CNG/LPG platforms. The design offers rear swing or roll-up doors for dock loading, a robust curbside sliding door, low entry and egress steps, and optimized ergonomics for managing commercial deliveries and service routes.
A Ford 3.7L V6 gasoline engine with 274 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque comes standard. The engine is capable of running E85 or can be equipped with a Gaseous Engine Prep package for compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquid petroleum gas (LPG) operation.
Also available is Ford’s 3.2L I-5 diesel engine with 185 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. Forbes estimated that, with the 3.7 liter configuration, fleets can realize a fuel savings of nearly 60 percent.
