European launch of seven new Ford electric vehicles in 2024.
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The company detailed its electrification strategy, with the first bespoke electric car to be based on the Volkswagen ID 4.
Ford will launch seven new electric vehicles in Europe by 2024, with three new models led by a new crossover underpinned by Volkswagen’s M.E.B platform technology.
Stuart Rowley, Ford’s European president, made the announcement, which includes a net-zero emissions target by 2035 and a commitment to only sell electric vehicles from that date — is the company’s biggest commitment in 120-years of History. The new car will join the all-electric lineup of the Ford Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit.
The three new electric vehicles will fall under the new Ford Model E division, which was set up to separate the company’s battery-electric business from its internal combustion engine business, now named Ford Blue, as part of a restructuring initiated by boss Jim Farley earlier this year.
The first car to hit the market is expected to be based on the Volkswagen ID 4 and sit under the Ford Mustang Mach-E in Ford’s lineup. It will be built at Ford’s new state-of-the-art Electric Vehicle manufacturing centre in Cologne, Germany, and will launch in 2023 as a “mid-size crossover.”
The second electric vehicle Ford will build at the plant will be released the following year and will be called a “sport crossover.” That suggests it’s the first more performance-focused coupe derivative to launch, likely based on the Volkswagen ID 5.
Speaking of the Volkswagen MEB-derived vehicles, Rowley added: “Let me assure you, these products absolutely look like Fords, drive like Fords, and we deliver an experience that will provide customers with a unique buying and owning experience.”
The cars will join Ford’s all-electric model with the Ford Puma Electric Vehicle, which will be sold as a standalone model from 2024. The Ford Ecosport will be discontinued later this year as Ford restructures its capacity to achieve that goal.
In addition, four electric commercial vehicles will be launched next year. The one-tonne Transit Custom van and Tourneo Custom MPV will go on sale in 2023, followed by the smaller new Transit Courier and Tourneo Courier MPVs in 2024.
As a result of the launch, Ford said it expects to sell 600,000 electric vehicles a year by 2026, of which 1.2 million will be produced in Cologne within six years. As a result, the company will invest a further £1.5 billion in the development of the facility.
To achieve these ambitions, Ford also announced a joint venture with SK On and Koc Holding to build a battery plant in Turkey. This is said to create “one of the largest commercial vehicle production facilities in Europe”.
As a side benefit, Ford also transferred ownership of its Craiova manufacturing plant in Romania to a joint venture with Ford Otosan.
Ford says that these initiatives will allow it to achieve zero emissions for all vehicle sales and carbon neutrality across its entire European footprint of facilities, logistics and suppliers by 2035.
European launch of seven new Ford electric vehicles in 2024. Fords first Electric Car.
The Ford Focus Battery Electric Vehicle was the concept electric car introduced by Ford Motor Company at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.
The Focus Battery Electric Vehicle concept used the European Mark II as its donor vehicle and incorporated key components from Ford’s North American hybrid technology, including the electric climate control system from the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid.
The Focus electric pre-production car was unveiled at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show under the new name of Ford Focus Electric, and this pre-production version was based on the Focus Mark III.
Deliveries for fleet customers in the United States began in December 2011, and it was released to retail customers in May 2012 only in California, New York and New Jersey, in limited numbers, followed by the other 16 initial markets in the third quarter of 2012.
The European release was initially slated for late 2012, but was rescheduled to start deliveries in August 2013. Unlike some smaller volume electric vehicles marketed only in California or other markets where mandated, the Focus Electric was sold in all 50 US states.
Production of the Focus Electric ran throughout the cycle of the third generation standard internal combustion model in the US. Both concluded in May 2018.
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