Ford Now Only Making Electric Vehicles?
Ford cars may all become electric in the coming years.
Ford has its sights set on the future, And what it sees is one where electric vehicles dominate the roads. Following immense positive reception surrounding its newly released electric F150 Lightning pickup truck, Ford announced that it will be pumping an additional $3.7 billion directly into its business. A hefty majority of those funds will be used to bolster the number of electric vehicles it produces. That being said, Ford is not axing internal combustion engines just yet.
Ford will disburse the capital across three states in the midwest. The majority of which will be utilized in the automaker’s home state of Michigan where the company is planning to pour $2 billion out of the total $3.7. The rest of the monies will be split between Ohio and Missouri.
First, Ford is planning to ramp up production of the F-150 Lightning due to its immediate success. CNN noted that, thus far, the company has already amassed 200,000 pre-orders and counting, The plan is to fulfill those orders at a pace of 150,000 per year. The investment in Michigan is also expected to create 2,000 new job openings.
On the gasoline-powered side of things, Ford has asserted it will also use the capital to work on developing new models of the once-defunct Ford Ranger as well as a new Mustang. The Ford Ranger will reportedly have an electric counterpart. However, it is unclear as of now if the same will be true of the Mustang. Ford is smart in deciding to offer an electric version of the Ranger. Since the Ford Ranger is essentially a smaller, less expensive version of the F-150 it appeals to a subset of people not able to afford the larger, pricier option. Making an electric-powered version of the Ranger will give interested parties, who may not have been able to swing the hefty price tag of the F-150 Lightning, an alternative electric option.
Meanwhile, Ohio will be receiving $1.5 billion of funding to develop a new electric vehicle that will be intended for commercial use. A factory in Missouri will be getting around $95 million of capital for a similar reason. There Ford plans to increase the production of both gas-powered and electric-powered commercial vehicles. According to the Wall Street Journal, following their investment at their facilities in these states, Ford is hoping that over 6,000 new jobs will be created.
Ford’s sizable investment announcement aligns with plans that the company outlined earlier in the year. At the start of the year, the company announced that it would be strategically separating its business to better focus its directives on both the gasoline-powered and electric-powered sides of things. Their disbursement of funds and intentions on how those funds will be exercised at the factories that receive them are certainly reflective of the company’s previously stated overarching mindset. Overall, it will be interesting to see the fruits to come out of Ford’s investments. However, if the F-150 Lightning is any indication of what the company has up its sleeve then drivers certainly have a lot to look forward to.
