The next-generation Volkswagen Transporter is set to arrive in 2024 with an entirely new architecture developed with Ford and, for the first time, with the offer of pure-electric powertrain.
The 2024 VW Transporter will replace the outgoing Volkswagen Transporter T6.1, which first went on sale in 2015.
It will be twinned with the Ford Transit Custom (itself the UK’s best-selling vehicle) and be built at the Ford Otosan factory in Turkey.
From launch, the new Transporter be available as a nine-seater Shuttle, two-row Kombi and cargo-carrying panel van, Van Life Matters understands.
A Sportline trim is also expected to be offered, but is yet been confirmed.
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As for the California Campervan? That won’t be based on the 2024 Volkswagen Transporter and will instead be derived from the MQB-platformed Multivan MPV, as previewed on Van Life Matters.
The 2024 Volkswagen Transport will feature the same range of diesel, petrol-electric and pure-electric drivetrains as its Transit counterpart.
It will also use Ford’s batteries, electric motors, engines, gearboxes and chassis structures across its line-up.
The electric ‘E-Transporter’ will likely match the 236-mile range of the Ford and be sold with the same choice of 134bhp or 215bhp rear-axle-mounted motors.
Although full technical specifications have yet to be revealed, Ford says the E-Transit Custom will be capable of “full towing capability”, with its 318lb ft of torque, and its battery can be charged at up to 125kW.
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When it comes to combustion Ford Customs come in the form of a 222bhp plug-in hybrid (shared with the Ford Kuga) with a 11.8kWh battery, plus 108bhp and 148bhp 2.0-litre diesels, which are offered with a manual transmission.
All-wheel drive is an option, but only with the eight-speed automatic.
The Volkswagen and Ford will have near-identical dimensions at less than 2m tall and around a 3m-long load bay with gross payload of 1360kg on SWB (The EV will offer 1100kg).
Volkswagen is yet to disclose any information about the Transporter’s design, but is supposedly set to be very different from the Ford.
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