Ford and Volkswagen are expanding their multi-billion dollar electric car collaboration. The US automaker will in future build another electric car based on the MEB electric platform developed by VW for the European market, Volkswagen and Ford announced on Monday. Ford will thus double the planned volume to 1.2 million units over a period of six years.
Ford announced a total of three new electric cars and four new electric vans as part of its strategy to accelerate electric mobility by 2024. From 2026, the Americans want to sell more than 600,000 all-electric vehicles a year in Europe. Almost three years ago, Ford and Volkswagen agreed on an alliance to mass-produce at least one emission-free vehicle in Europe from 2023. To this end, the US group is currently converting the Cologne Ford plant for 2 billion dollars (1.8 billion euros) into a European center for electric cars. When the cooperation was agreed, the prospect of building a second electric car for Europe had already been announced. Many cars – lower costs The agreement will help Volkswagen to scale its electric platform, on which the vehicles of the ID family are based, production of which is currently being expanded. The group is thus financing part of its high development costs for this technology. As a result, the vehicles can be offered more cheaply. “For the final breakthrough of e-mobility in Europe, what is important now is cost-effectiveness and speed,” said CTO Thomas Schmall. The agreement with Ford will further accelerate the electrification of both companies. Europe’s largest car manufacturer wants to develop the sale of vehicle licenses based on the MEB platform as a second mainstay. The German group is also working with the Americans on the development of self-driving cars and has invested in the Ford subsidiary Argo. Seven new electric vehicles by 2024 … After the successful introduction of the fully electric Mustang Mach-E in 2021 and the Mach- E GT in Europe this year, and with e-transit rolling out soon in the next quarter, Ford is planning seven more all-electric vehicles for Europe – three new passenger cars and four new commercial vehicles. From 2023, Ford will begin producing an all-new all-electric passenger car at its plant in Cologne. From 2024, production in Cologne will be expanded to include a second new all-electric model. In addition, Ford’s best-selling car model in Europe, the Ford Puma, will be produced as a purely electric vehicle in Craiova, Romania, from 2024 Tourneo Custom. Then, in 2024, will be the next generation of smaller vehicles, the all-electric Transit Courier and Tourneo Courier.… and a battery factoryFord announced it will build a commercial vehicle battery cell production facility in Turkey with an annual capacity of 30 to 2024, as part of its plans to accelerate electric mobility 45 gigawatt hours. A letter of intent was signed with the South Korean battery manufacturer SK On and KC Holding.
source site-13