GM's Bright Idea steps in to battle the Ford Transit Connect

certainly not the most glamorous competition, but the looming release of the Ford Transit and the development of the new GM plug-in van, the Bright Idea, could mean big success for the winner of the electric van market.

Although the mainstream market is not necessarily ready for the EV revolution, the transition to hybrid cars, and more recently, the buzz of EV sedans and sports cars could mean more recognition and awareness of the growing availability of alternative energy solutions as it pertains to cars and other motor vehicles.

Not long ago, GM, Nissan, and Tesla were the few key players, or at least noticeable players, in the EV market. Now, as the industry and government look for more electric solutions, more car manufacturers are establishing plans for the development of not only sedans and sports cars, but vans and trucks too.

As reported earlier on Tainted Green, GM this week announced the strategic partnership with Bright Automotive. Together, the companies have plans of developing an electric van called the Bright Idea that will have a similar electric mileage range to that of the Volt.

But how does the GM Bright Idea stack up against the Ford Transit Connect?

Much like GM teamed with Bright Automotive, Ford partnered with Azure Dynamics to develop the EV version of the Transit Connect. It is expected to release later this year with the impressive SPECs of an all-electric range of up to 80 miles.

It has 135 cubic feet of storage and 1,000 lb payload capacity.

As many know, the shortcoming of the Transit Connect could be that it has no combustion engine available when the electric battery has reached its range. In other words, 80 miles means 80 miles. Additionally, the the Transit Connect only has the ability to reach a max speed of 75 MPH.

Preliminary speculation has the 2011 Transit Connect priced at around $50,000.

The GM version, the Bright Idea, is expected to achieve a 38-40 mile range on an electric battery, but unlike its Ford counterpart, it has the ability to switch to a 36 MPG combustion engine giving it a range of about 400 miles (more than 320 more than the Transit Connect).

It will have 180 cubic feet of storage and a 2000 lb payload capacity. At this point it looks a little early to gauge the price.

Although the vehicles looks very similar, the 2 electric vans have very different features. The buyer will simply need to know exactly that he or she is looking for.

If the van needs to travel more than 80 miles in a day, don't plan on buying the Transit Connect. A car that restricting, even with its 80 mile range, is just difficult to  see past the limitations.