Ford abandons goal to go all-electric in Europe by 2030
Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer of Ford’s Model E electrification division, spoke to British Autocar about the carmaker’s plans. According to him, high battery costs and uncertainty surrounding EV legislation and incentive programmes are making customers rethink electric vehicles. That is why Ford will also focus on hybrid powertrains and keep combustion engines running.
“I don’t think we can go all in on anything until our customers decide they’re all in, and that’s progressing at different rates around the world,” Gjaja told Autocar. “We don’t see that going all-electric by 2030 is a good choice for our business or, especially, for our customers.”
Gjaja stated that electrification was still a long-term goal. The carmaker’s efforts would “end at a highly electrified fleet – maybe ultimately completely electrified if we can get the battery costs and energy density right.” However, he added: “That’s a destination, and is that ten years out or is that 30 years out? I don’t think anyone’s crystal ball is good enough to say.”
Ford initially stated in 2021 that it wanted to sell only EVs in Europe from 2030. For commercial vehicles, two-thirds of sales were to be all-electric or plug-in hybrids, a goal that Gjaja now says was “too ambitious.”
To do so, Ford opened its Electric Vehicle Centre at its factory in Cologne in June 2023. It is where the carmaker produces the new all-electric Explorer and the Capri. The US company had invested two billion dollars in converting the plant for the production of electric cars.
It is not yet clear what will happen with the factory in Valencia, Spain. Gjaja told the British portal that Ford is developing a ‘multi-energy platform’ for European cars.
“We’re going to bring something to Valencia, but we haven’t committed to what that’s going to be,” he said. “We’re still working on that. I think it’s going to be multi-energy. That’s our current thinking, because we think it gives us the best chance of success given the European market and where we are in adoption.”
The first car based on the platform should roll off the production line in 2027. The annual capacity will be 300,000 units. Autocar speculates that it could be a new-generation Kuga, “with that car expected to end its current life cycle in around 2026.” However, that has yet to be confirmed.
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