Ford plugs into electric future

Ford Motor Company has thrown US$11 billion (NZ$15.1 billion) at electric vehicles and an inventory of hybrids it claims will be on-road by 2022.

The company says it will have 40 hybrids and EVs in showrooms in the next five years, with at least 16 set to be fully electric, executive chairman Bill Ford told the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

The renewed monetary pledge squashes the previous US$4.5 billion (NZ$6.2 billion) the company previously promised by 2020, with Ford’s engineering, research and development expansion in 2016 racking up US$7.3 billion alone – some $600 million more than 2015.

It comes after chief executive Jim Hackett promised Ford would cut $14 billion in costs in the next five years, transferring its investment in internal combustion and sedans toward electrifying pick-up trucks.

“We’re all in on this and we’re taking our mainstream vehicles, our most iconic vehicles, and we’re electrifying them,” Ford says.

The company has announced it will re-introduce the Australian-designed 2019 Ranger line-up to US showrooms, offering a smaller package for more conservative customers, and teased at NAIAS a high-performance electric SUV called the Mach 1 as the combination of an Explorer and a Mustang.