Ford and VW to partner on MEB EV platform

Ford and Volkswagen have reached an agreement that will allow Ford to share VW’s new MEB electric car platform.

VW had expressed its willingness to share its MEB toolkit in order to drive down development costs. The arrangement is expected to be formalised on July 11 at a VW board of directors meeting.

VW head Herbert Diess says over 100 million VW vehicles are based on the Modular Transverse toolkit.

“With the MEB platform, we are now transferring this successful concept to the electric era and opening it to other car makers,” Diess says.

“The MEB is to establish itself as the standard for e-mobility. Based on the MEB, we will make individual mobility CO2-neutral, safe, comfortable and accessible to as many people as possible.”

Back in January, Ford and Volkswagen announced they would collaborate on developing electric pickup trucks, delivery vans and medium duty trucks. A Ford spokeswoman says this is still in discussion, and Ford will share updates as details become firm.

EVs are rapidly on the rise, but so are autonomous vehicles. VW has been interested in a relationship with Aurora, the autonomous driving company started by top self-driving engineers at Waymo and Tesla. Ford is investing in Argo AI, another self-driving start-up.

The cost of developing autonomous and electric vehicles has caused more and more automotive manufacturers to seek partnerships to split the costs.