Ford has just announced that it will develop two new dedicated platforms for electric vehicles , one for large pick-ups and SUVs, and one for crossovers and midsize cars.
The announcement was made at a presentation with investors that took place this Wednesday, on the so-called Capital Markets Day of the blue oval brand, where we also learned that Ford will reinforce investment in electrification and connectivity.
These new platforms will streamline processes and reduce development costs for Ford's next electric cars, allowing margins for every car sold to be higher.
electric future
Ford is strongly committed to electrification and the investment of at least 30 billion dollars (approximately 24.53 billion euros) it will make in this area globally by 2025 is proof of that.
This bet is felt even more strongly in Europe, where the brand has already made it known that from 2030 onwards it will only sell exclusively electric passenger vehicles. Before that, as early as mid-2026, the entire range will have zero emissions capability — whether through plug-in hybrid or electric models.
At the same time, the entire range of Ford Europe commercial vehicles will in 2024 be capable of being equipped with zero-emission variants, also using 100% electric models or plug-in hybrids. By 2030, two-thirds of commercial vehicle sales are expected to be 100% electric or plug-in hybrid models.
Two new platforms
To fulfill this goal, the blue oval brand needs to reinforce the range of electric cars, which currently only has the Mustang Mach-E, which Guilherme Costa had recently tested on video, and the unprecedented F-150 Lightning — which has already racked up 70,000 reserves just days after its unveiling — the all-electric version of the world's best-selling pickup truck.
But these two models will be joined by new electric proposals in the coming years, distributed between cars and crossovers, to which larger electric proposals will be added, such as SUVs, commercial vans or pick-ups.
Crucial to this entire process will be the introduction of a new platform exclusively dedicated to electrics and which will be able to allow rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configuration.
According to Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's operations and product director, quoted by Automotive News, this platform will serve as the basis for "a range of more emotional models to be produced by 2030".
Although Ford does not confirm this, it is estimated that this is the evolution of the GE platform that serves as the basis for the Mustang Mach-E, which should be called the GE2.
According to Automotive News, the GE2 is expected to emerge in mid-2023 and will be used in the next-generation Mustang Mach-E in crossovers from Ford and Lincoln, and even speculated in the next-generation pony car Mustang.
As early as 2025, the second generation electric Ford F-150 should appear, based on an entirely new electric platform called TE1. According to Automotive News, this platform could serve as the basis for the future electric Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition, two large SUVs whose current generations derive from the same platform as the F-150 pickup truck.
Volkswagen Group MEB is also a bet
Ford's bet on electrification does not end here. In addition to an average electric pick-up that everything indicates will derive from Rivian's platform — the North American startup, where Ford is an investor, which has already presented two models, the R1T pick-up and the R1S SUV —, the oval's brand azul will also use the Volkswagen Group's well-known MEB platform to boost its electrification strategy, particularly in Europe, in order to meet the target set for 2030.
It should be recalled that the American brand has already admitted that it will produce an electric vehicle based on the MEB platform at its production unit in Cologne, as of 2023.
However, as we recently learned, this partnership between Ford and Volkswagen could result in more than just an electric model. According to a source quoted by Automotive News Europe, Ford and Volkswagen are in talks for a second MEB-derived electric model, also built in Cologne.
Article updated at 9:56 am on May 27, 2021 with confirmation of news we had advanced before Capital Markets Day