Autonomous Ford E-Transit ready for UK roads

Autonomous vehicle software company Oxa has unveiled its self-driving E-Transits, stating they are ready and available for integration into commercial fleets. But is the UK ready for them?

Driving technology forward

Debates around self-driving vehicles are nothing new. In fact, we’ve been weighing up the pros and cons for a while now, and the topic remains a real conversation starter to say the least.

However, any public pushback hasn’t stopped the automotive industry — backed by the Automated Vehicles Act’s 2026 self-driving targets — from persevering with the somewhat controversial technology. And this has inevitably extended to the world of vans.

While the 2027 release date of hyper-futuristic Tesla Robovan may seem a little optimistic (especially if Will Smith dusts off his futuristic cop uniform), and VW’s autonomous ID Buzz fleet remains firmly under its ‘Future Technology’ banner, Oxa may have got the jump on the competition: announcing that its self-driving Ford E-Transits are ready. Now.

One to keep an eye on

So, who’s this new player, Oxa? Since being founded as Oxbotica in 2014, Oxa has claimed accolades as the first company in the UK to test self-driving vehicles on public roads, and the first in Europe to test a ‘zero-occupancy’ journey. Now a self-dubbed a ‘global leader in autonomous vehicle technology’, guided by a vision to build software which can convert any vehicle into a self-driver — it offers the type of widespread applicability which could see it become a household name.

The Ford E-Transit represents another milestone for Oxa: the first mass produced vehicle to host its autonomous conversion tech.

"Making the Ford E-Transit available for autonomous operations is the next step on our journey to deliver safe, scalable, and sustainable autonomous solutions." "This vehicle represents an important milestone in our mission to reshape the future of passenger transportation and logistics." Gavin Jackson, CEO of Oxa

Grounded in reality

Although trailing behind the versatile mid-sized Vivaro-e in terms of sheer UK sales, the E-Transit is Europe’s best-selling large electric van, and it brings all the utility synonymous with blue-oval’s LCVs.

Oxa is evidently aware of this and has been careful not to impede the big Ford’s capabilities. For a start, its compact hardware ensures that the E-Transit retains its cargo capacity of up to 15.1m³. This is despite the installation of the numerous sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar systems required to provide the 360-degree perception required for self-driving.

Leaning into the flexibility this spaciousness brings, Oxa’s E-Transit platform is available as a standard cargo hauler, or as a people carrying 10-seater minibus. The latter choice could be a smart option to offer considering that the public has had a little longer to become accustomed to the idea self-driving taxis, such as the Waymo fleet slowly spreading across the US.

Navigating the future

Keeping cargo safe and passengers comfortable the Oxa Driver software ‘offers a category leading smooth ride and a low energy solution’, with the bonus of also preserving the E-Transits 249-mile range.

To navigate throughout this range, a combination of virtual, controlled environment, and real-world testing, alongside AI learning and simulations, have allowed Oxa to ‘assure the safe and efficient deployment of the Ford E-Transits’. Perhaps the vans have been playing Pokémon GO to learn their way around…

On a serious note, we’ll withhold judgement here until we see them in action, but considering around 60% of our audience’s negative feedback on self-driving vehicles cites safety concerns, these E-Transits’ ability to navigate the real-world accident-free will be vital to their success.

Perhaps allaying some of these concerns, Oxa’s vans will have their autonomous operation capped to 35 mph in mixed traffic conditions. While this also could be seen as a limitation, it does highlight further flexibility in that the manual controls are unchanged by the conversion, and non-autonomous driving mode can be used at any time.

Hero image credit: Newspress UK