Following the unveiling of the autonomous Ford Fusion Electric during the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2017 held last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, the American car manufacturer has also disclosed future plans to release a number of electrified vehicles beginning in 2019, including a long-range all-electric SUV.
The all-electric SUV shall reportedly have a range of 300 miles, which is by far, the longest among electric vehicles now and those that are soon be arriving in the market.
Accordingly, Ford will be offering a hybrid version of both its popular F-150 pickup truck and the Mustang sports coupe, details the Green Car Reports.
In addition, there will also be a plug-in hybrid version of its Transit Custom, a smaller one-ton version of its commercial delivery van that Ford is selling in Europe.
Trying to please the incoming US president
Ford Motors has also canceled its plan to build a new $1.6 billion small-car assembly plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in order to please incoming US president Donald Trump who promised to create more jobs for Americans.
Instead of investing $1.6 billion on a new plant facility in Mexico, Ford will just infuse $700 million to expand its existing assembly line in Flat Rock, Michigan in order to make it capable of producing high-tech electrified and autonomous vehicles.
At the moment, the Ford assembly plant in Flat Rock is producing the Mustang and the Lincoln Continental.
With the expansion of its Flat Rock assembly plant, it means that the Ford ‘Model E’ lineup of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric cars will be built at the facility as well as the future Ford Focus.
As it is, the current Ford Focus is being built on Ford’s existing plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. It is possible that the American car manufacturer may be convinced by Trump to altogether abandon it and relocate everything to its Flat Rock assembly line.
Ford explained that it had to keep its assembly line in Hermosillo, Mexico in order to improve company profitability because doing the same in the US would be costlier for the company.
A most welcome vehicle
While there are not many details that have been disclosed on the reported 300-mile all-electric SUV from Ford, fans and critics alike are open to welcoming such a vehicle following Ford’s efforts since 2012 with the unveiling of the Focus Electric compliance car.
Now it can be told that it is due to plans for a truly long-range electric car and a heavy and aerodynamically challenging SUV that Ford representatives in standards workshops have pushed hard to expand the Combined Charging System protocol to 150 kilowatts or higher.
Ford made known its sweeping vehicle electrification plans through a recent press release where the company reiterated its plans that have been in the works for many years, to improve the efficiency of its cars and trucks through the use of battery packs and electric motors, reports Plug-in Cars.
The carmaker’s use of the term electrification is an intentional way to convey the broadest possible use of electric technology, mostly referring to conventional no-plug gas-electric hybrids, rather than plug-in hybrids or pure battery-electric vehicles.
Mark Fields, CEO of Ford, said that the American car manufacturer is committed to being a leader in providing consumers with a broad range of electrified vehicles, services, and solutions that make people’s lives better.
He added that Ford’s investments and expanding lineup reflect the company’s view that global offerings of electrified vehicles will exceed gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 15 years.
Ford is one of several automakers to form a global consortium to deploy a highway-based network of 400 high-power charging sites in Europe, beginning in 2017.