Ford Europe Commits To EV-Only Future, First Car Due In 2023.

Conservative legacy automaker Ford has jolted the OEM world by committing its European offshoot to an all-electric vehicle (EV) lineup by 2030.

By very stark contrast, Ford of Europe did not sell a single electric vehicle in 2020.

The first full-line passenger EV to emerge from Ford’s Cologne, Germany, plant will arrive in 2023, with a second EV likely to come a year later.

From then on, every Ford passenger vehicle sold in Europe will be either an EV or a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) by 2026.

Following two days after its former luxury brand, Jaguar, announced its own EV-only future by 2025, Ford will invest US$22 billion by 2025 to revamp its entire European lineup to EVs.

It is tipping $1 billion into its Cologne plant alone to turn it into an EV hub, with the first Ford EVs scheduled to roll off the production line there in just two years.

Its commercial vehicles will make the same leap by 2024, in just three years time, and it expects two-thirds of its commercial vehicle sales to be either EV or PHEV by 2030.

“Our announcement today to transform our Cologne facility, the home of our operations in Germany for 90 years, is one of the most significant Ford has made in over a generation,” Ford of Europe President Stuart Rowley said.

“It underlines our commitment to Europe and a modern future with electric vehicles at the heart of our strategy for growth.”

The Cologne plant currently builds the small Fiesta hatchback, but will switch to EVs as soon as possible.

While not confirmed by Ford, the most likely explanation for its 2030 timing is the next, tighter step in EU emissions legislation due at the same time, which will see a minimum of 50-percent reduction in fleet emissions from this year’s levels.

Ford met its 2020 European CO2 emissions target of 96.6 grams/km, which was reduced from 122.7 grams in 2018, however the 2030 target will see that cut to 45 grams at most.

That figure would be low enough to demand that EVs make up least 50 percent of Fords sold in Europe by 2030, with the tailpipe emissions set aside for a relative handful of plug-in hybrid models, mostly for commercial-vehicle work.

Besides, countries like the United Kingdom have already announced a ban on combustion-powered vehicles by 2030.

Ford has committed to use the Volkswagen Group’s modular electric matrix (MEB) to underpin its next wave of European EVs, both short cutting development time and making huge gains in economies of scale for both automakers.

The MEB architecture can already be seen beneath Volkswagen’s big-selling ID.3 hatch and the newer ID.4 SUV, both of which launched in the second half of 2020.

It launched the critically acclaimed Mustang Mach-E in December last year as its figurehead EV, and at least four more EVs are expected to follow before 2025.

Ford of Europe, which returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of last year, is the latest to bet the farm on a full EV future in Europe, following Jaguar, Bentley and Rolls-Royce, but it is by far the biggest.

“We successfully restructured Ford of Europe and returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2020,” Rowley said.

“Now we are charging into an all-electric future in Europe.

“We expect to continue our strong momentum this year in Europe and remain on track to deliver our goal of a six percent EBIT margin as part of Ford’s plan to turnaround our global automotive operations.

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