As we get closer and closer to the year 2030, more automakers announce that they’ll be electric by in Europe by then. Today’s addition? Ford. By 2030, the Blue Oval will be selling only electric passenger cars in Europe.
Ford laid out its plans for both its passenger cars and commercial vehicles today across the pond. The company said it’ll be investing $1 billion into a new electrification center in Cologne to support the efforts.
Ford will have a new BEV for Europe in the second-half of 2023. That vehicle will join the Mustang Mach-E as current electric offerings. That sits alongside the company’s hybridization efforts.
By the middle of 2026, Ford’s passenger lineup will be either be BEV or PHEV. That means any new Ford passenger vehicle will have the ability to be emissions free, at least for a short period of time, to enter city centers where tailpipe emissions are banned.
Then by 2030, 100% of new passenger vehicle sales in Europe are expected to be all-electric.
On the commercial vehicle side, by 2024 the entire range of passenger vehicles will be zero emission capable. Vehicles like the E-Transit are leading the charge there.
By 2030, Ford expects that two-third of all sales of commercial vehicles will be electric or plug-in hybrid.
While these dates seem to be firm, it should be noted that on the long-term goals the company uses the term “expected” to hedge a little bit. Though with the changes in Europe and brands rapid-adoption of BEV technology, we’d anticipate those dates to be pretty firm.
“We successfully restructured Ford of Europe and returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2020. Now we are charging into an all-electric future in Europe with expressive new vehicles and a world-class connected customer experience,” said Stuart Rowley, president, Ford of Europe.
Will Ford likely adopt a similar policy in the United States? Eventually. A lot will depend on how President Biden pushes BEV adoption here, and what policies Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg moves to implement. The charging infrastructure is vastly superior in Europe, which makes it easier to facilitate such a change.
Whether you believe it’s legislation pushing these changes, or whether you believe it’s customer demand, or whether you believe it’s a bit of both, one thing is clear. The electric future is coming.
