I think we can all agree Ford makes some fun cars. The 2024 Mustang seems like a rip. Everyone, even my car-ambivalent friends and family, notices a Bronco when one drives by. And the Ranger Raptor is all the Raptor anyone really needs. But there’s an entire other side of Ford that exists across the pond — a world that’s a little friendlier, tends to come in better colors and now includes the adorable, fun-sized E-Tourneo Courier.
A little background, because Ford’s van nomenclature can be a little confusing. A “Tourneo” is basically a Ford Transit kitted as a people-mover, rather than for commercial use. The Tourneo Courier is the most compact version of the Tourneo, and it’s historically shared a platform with Ford’s smallest car. That used to be the Fiesta, but with the Fiesta going the way of all right-sized hatchbacks, that position now belongs to the Puma crossover.
This technically isn’t the first we’ve seen of the Courier. Last month, the E-Transit version debuted, which is pretty much the same as this Tourneo except in panel-van guise. By contrast, Ford appears to be pitching the Tourneo Courier as more of an active lifestyle vehicle, and I dig it.
The Tourneo Courier will come in battery-electric and internal-combustion options, per Ford’s press release. The latter, with a 123-horsepower one-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder, will kick off production by the end of this year. The E-Tourneo Courier is slated to launch in 2024, packing a 134-horsepower motor with support for both 11 kW AC and 100 kW DC charging. While Ford hasn’t yet shared the E-Tourneo Courier’s battery capacity, the manufacturer does report an AC charging time of less than six hours, with the ability to add 54 miles of juice in just 10 minutes when using a supported DC fast charger.
But it’s the exterior and the surprisingly roomy interior where the E-Tourneo Courier wins you over. The option for a white roof is throwing serious FJ Cruiser vibes, and the Courier’s overall sense of diminutive, rugged ambition calls to mind other modern miniature marvels, like the Hyundai Casper and Mitsubishi Delica Mini. OK, this thing isn’t that small, but it may as well be relative to the tiniest Ford SUVs here at home.
Inside, Ford says it’s been able to claw back 44 percent of cargo space, aided in part by the cavity where the one-liter mill formerly lived. There are a plethora of little spaces to store little things, and yet Ford still shoehorned in a 12-inch touchscreen atop the dashboard, which must seem absolutely massive in a cabin this compact.
Ford doesn’t offer anything quite like the Tourneo Courier in the States. The Transit is about a decade long in the tooth, while the writing’s on the wall for the smaller Transit Connect. The E-Transit is a bit of an odd duck, with its new chassis and electric powertrain underpinning the same old body.
Ultimately we have no choice but to admire the Tourneo Courier from afar, just like the outgoing Fiesta and Focus, Puma ST and even the new Volkswagen-based Explorer EV. (I’ll give it to Ford — it looks handsome.) The dealer I bought my Fiesta ST from keeps trying to get me back in the showroom to sell my hot hatch. To send me off in what, a Maverick? Long live small Fords.