Ford Motor Co. plans to invest USD4.5 billion on electrified-vehicle technology over the next five years and more than triple the number of global nameplates it offers as a plug-in or hybrid, despite weak sales of those vehicles today. Ford CEO Mark Fields said the automaker would introduce 13 hybrid or electric cars by 2020, in addition to the six it offers today. Some would be versions of new or existing vehicles, while others would be offered only as electrified vehicles.
Mark Fields and Raj Nair, Ford’s product development chief, said the plan is driven by customer needs as well as by government fuel-economy regulations.
“Everything we do is first driven by the customer,” Nair said, “but certainly the regulatory requirements influence the technologies that we’re introducing, not just in electrified vehicles but in lightweighting and EcoBoost engines, etc.”
Nair said more than 40% of Ford’s lineup will be offered as a plug-in or hybrid in 2020, up from 13% now. The investment represents Ford’s largest ever investment in electrified vehicles in a 5-year span.
Nair said that Ford expects to get the same return on investment on electrified vehicles as on gas-powered vehicles. Ford also said it will start selling an updated version of its Focus Electric in late 2016, though that is not one of the 13 upcoming vehicles. The Focus will be capable of traveling 100 miles on a full charge, up from 76 miles today, and of being recharged to 80 percent of the full range within half an hour, two hours faster than the current version.
Ford also hinted that it plans to unveil a larger plug-in vehicle, likely an update to the Fusion Energi, at the Detroit auto show in January. During a media event at its engineering facility, it hid the car under a cloth next to a sign saying it was “top secret” until Jan. 11, which is the first day of the show’s media preview.
Nair wouldn’t say how many of the 13 vehicles would be battery-electric vehicles vs. hybrids or discuss potential prices and driving range.
Ford also announced that it was expanding its electrified vehicles research and development program in Europe and Asia to accelerate work on battery technology around the world. Kevin Layden, the director of Ford’s electrification programs, said battery costs are “coming down faster than anyone’s predicted.”
