With more than 120,000 reservations for the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, it’s safe to say Ford is doing well in terms of customer demand for EVs. The Blue Oval has vowed to invest $30 billion in the development of EVs through the middle of the decade to bolster its portfolio beyond the zero-emissions truck, the Mustang Mach-E SUV, and the E-Transit commercial vehicle.
2023 will be an important year as Ford North America COO’s Lisa Drake revealed the automaker will spend more on electric vehicles than on conventional cars equipped with internal combustion engines. The disclosure was made this week while speaking with Barclays autos analyst Brian Johnson. It will be the first time Ford is going to invest more in electric cars than in gas ones, and it likely means 2022 will be the final year when ICE will have priority over EVs in terms of investments.
It’s a move most of us saw coming as automakers, in general, are switching focus to electrification at the expense of traditional gasoline and diesel cars amidst increasingly stringent emissions regulations. Ford will be intensifying its eco-friendly efforts in Europe where it has promised the passenger car lineup will go fully electric by 2030. On the commercial side, it will take a bit longer as the company estimates all vehicles will be PHEVs or EVs by 2024.
Ford of Europe is also plotting another electric crossover, likely positioned below the Mustang Mach-E. It will ride on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform and is scheduled to go on sale in Europe in 2023. The new model will be built at the firm’s factory in Cologne, Germany where Ford is spending a cool $1 billion to get it ready for EV production.
When it comes to its luxury division, Lincoln will be launching its very first EV next year as part of a promised four-model electric car lineup arriving until the end of the decade.
Source: Automotive News
