Two years ago, we were a little disappointed by the lack of storage versatility that the regular petrol-powered Tourneo Courier offered. The e-Tourneo does slightly better but still not well enough to use its space as cleverly as, for example, a well-equipped Citroën Berlingo or a Vauxhall Combo Life.
What you have here is a very square-shaped, high-roofed five-seat passenger car. Unlike the aforementioned rivals, Ford offers it in only one wheelbase length and with a maximum of five seats, so it misses a trick in catering for larger families. The second row is very generous for head room, but only average for leg room by compact car class standards.
The rear passenger seats aren’t quite as clever as those of rivals we’ve tested. They fold and tumble forwards, but doing that doesn’t leave a totally flat, clear loading area, such as you get in key rivals. There’s also no option to fold the front passenger seat flat to accommodate longer items.
Like its rivals, the e-Tourneo Courier has sliding rear passenger doors, which make access into the second row very easy in tight spaces. The action of them is light enough. But the placement of the car’s recharging port on the nearside rear wing makes the adjacent door useless when the car is plugged in. It’s an annoyance that could have been avoided if the car’s designers simply had the foresight to put the port elsewhere.
In the boot, there’s a very wide and tall cargo area with straight sides; a handy compartment built in on one side that’s ideal for shoes, tools or accessories; and provision for a raised false floor, level with that of the forwards cabin, so you can load bulky items like mountain bikes more easily. There’s more than enough space here for bigger dog boxes and the like. However, access isn’t ideal. Opening the long, roof-hinged hatchback becomes problematic in tight spaces and there’s no separately opening rear window either as standard or as an option.
Up front, the seats are comfortable and adjustable enough, if a little firm in the cushion. The dashboard and surrounding architecture are somewhat different from the regular Tourneo Courier’s. A ‘squircle’ steering wheel, with a flattened top and bottom, is fitted in an effort to make more space for the driver’s thighs; a new all-digital instrument binnacle and multimedia console appears, with a larger 14in ‘Sync 4’ touchscreen system; and there is more storage space on the top of the fascia, as well as quite a clever centre console between the front seats that you can configure by moving or removing cupholder and tray inserts.
