While Ford has not made a formal announcement on going all-electric like crosstown rival General Motors, it appears that it’s going in that direction too. According to a report from Automotive News, Ford is moving toward an electric future but hasn’t committed to a date for when to make the full transition in North America.
Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president of the Americas and international markets group, told Automotive News that he can see the day where the company is all-electric. “We’re certainly working toward that,” he continued. However, Ford’s electrification plans hinge on customer acceptance of the recently revealed F-150 Lightning. The brand will be leveraging the truck’s reputation alongside the e-Transit and Mustang Mach-E to spread acceptance of battery-electric vehicles. Ford recently announced that it intends to build its batteries in partnership with SK Innovation and has upped its electrification investment to $22 billion through 2025.
“Our product plans have changed dramatically,” Hau Thai-Tang, chief product platform, and operations officer at Ford said at the announcement of the battery deal with SK Innovation. “We have a new CEO, and part of our plan is to lead the electric revolution.”
In Europe, Ford has already committed to selling nothing but EVs by the time 2030 rolls along. Galhotra pointed out that the European and North American markets are completely different and the move toward electrification was clearer there. He also suspects the same thing is happening in North America now but only at a slower pace. The Blue Oval is hoping to use the F-150 Lightning to gauge how consumers and fleets respond to an all-electric truck and how quickly it gets adopted.
BlueOvalSK, the joint venture between Ford and SK Innovation, is part of a plan to vertically integrate battery production. It’s also proof that Ford is expecting a significant shift to EVs by the middle of this decade. The brand is also expected to continue spreading electrification to its most recognizable nameplates with Bronco being the next possible candidate. Two more electric crossovers are expected to join the Ford lineup by 2023 while a Lincoln Corsair EV is reportedly arriving by 2026.
