Two years ago, Ford successfully fought efforts by Tesla Motors to register the name “Model E” for what we now know as the Tesla Model 3, unveiled last week to great fanfare. Now it appears that the Detroit automaker may plan to use that name itself on a dedicated vehicle coming in 2019 that will be offered as a hybrid, a battery-electric car, and a plug-in hybrid.
If that lineup sounds slightly familiar, it should: it’s the same suite of versions that will be offered in the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq. Adding battery-electric versions of dedicated green vehicles seems to be a new trend, in fact.
Ford announced recently that it would invest USD1.6 billion in the new plant, its first all-new North American assembly plant in more than 20 years. It would be built in a brand-new factory in Mexico that will start producing cars in 2018. The Ford Model E would include a conventional hybrid, a battery-electric car, and a plug-in hybrid.
The Ford Model E would be derived from the same compact architecture as the next Focus, but with a new and dedicated body that wouldn’t have a gasoline-only version.
It would collectively replace the current C-Max Hybrid and C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid, along with the low-volume Focus Electric (which will meanwhile get a range boost to roughly 100 miles for 2017). C-Max sales since been overtaken by those of the hybrid and Energi versions of the Ford Fusion mid-size sedan, which uses an identical powertrain.
