Ford, which recently announced plans to spin off its EVs into a new global business unit, plans to add three passenger EVs and four commercial EVs to its European lineup by 2024, and is taking on some partners to help with the process.
Ford plans to invest some $2 billion in its new Cologne Electrification Centre in Cologne, Germany. The investment includes a new battery assembly facility scheduled to start operations in 2024. Ford says EV production at the facility will increase to 1.2 million vehicles over a six-year timeframe.
The first EV to be produced at the Cologne plant will be “a five-seat, medium-sized crossover with a 500 km range.” Ford says it will give the new EV a name, and reveal more details, later in 2022, and expects to begin production in 2023. An electric “sports crossover” will follow in 2024.
In a surprising partnership with the Volkswagen Group, Ford’s two new EVs will be based on VW’s MEB platform. InsideEVs speculates that they will be variants of the VW ID.4 and ID.5 GTX.
Ford’s top-selling passenger vehicle in Europe, the Ford Puma, will be produced in an electric version in Craiova, Romania starting in 2024. Another interesting partnership: the plant will be operated by Ford Otosan, a joint venture between Ford and Turkey’s Koç Holding.
On the commercial side, Ford plans to add four new electric models to its Transit lineup: the all-new Transit Custom one-ton van and Tourneo Custom MPV in 2023 (to be produced in Koçaeli, Turkey); and the smaller, next-generation Transit Courier van and Tourneo Courier MPV in 2024 (to be made in Craiova, Romania). Ford will also launch its E-Transit full-size electric van in Europe in the second quarter of 2022.
Ford expects to sell more than 600,000 EVs each year in Europe, and more than 2 million globally, by 2026.
“I am delighted to see the pace of change in Europe—challenging our entire industry to build better, cleaner and more digital vehicles. Ford is all-in and moving fast to meet the demand in Europe and around the globe,” said CEO Jim Farley.
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