Electromobility: Ford Is Slowly Starting Up

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Electromobility: Ford Is Slowly Starting Up
Electromobility: Ford Is Slowly Starting Up

Video: Electromobility: Ford Is Slowly Starting Up

Video: Electromobility: Ford Is Slowly Starting Up
Video: ford fucos engine slow cranking no start due to battery bad cell 2024, March
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When it comes to electromobility, Ford is exercising restraint. But that should be different. The automaker has just presented the Mach E. Further models will follow

The automakers outdo each other in announcing almost every day. Especially when it comes to how many electrified and fully electric vehicles you want to have on the road soon. The year 2025 is currently popular, and often the horizon is even set to 2030. Ford is exercising restraint, initially hanging up a model calendar that will last until 2022. The planning until then includes 14 electrified vehicles for Europe, including two all-electric cars.

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The US group has long had various attempts at electricity. As early as 2004, the SUV Escape was sent to the highways in an electrified version. This was followed by a few attempts in the sedan segment (Fusion Hybrid). After all: with over 800,000 vehicles one could gain good experience. Ford Europe tried it with C-Max Energi (2014) and the electric Focus (2013), among others. But the package, range, prices and market situation were not in a good relationship.

More passion for e-mobility

Now the topic should be approached with a lot more passion. Ford recently showed how at the International Auto Show in Los Angeles. The Mustang Mach-E celebrated its world premiere there. Ford uses the legendary model name to emotionally charge the topic of electric mobility. The Mach E is Ford's first battery-electric model designed from the ground up as such. The 4.71-meter-long SUV is due to be launched in Germany at the end of 2020, at prices starting at 46,900 euros.

The design of the car is very reminiscent of the Kuga and Puma models. In principle, that doesn't have to be bad. Nevertheless, say quite a few experts, you may have missed the chance to put an electric car on its wheels that instantly triggers a kind of “wow effect” in the viewer, something like a “must-have” feeling like with Tesla generated. Instead, functional SUV mainstream, which is sure to reach more customers globally. Conceptually, there will be two different battery sizes for the Mach-E, 75 and 99 kWh. Ford promises a range of around 600 kilometers for the large battery.

Do E on your own platform

In the passenger car sector, the Mach E remains the only model for which Ford has developed an electric platform. There will be no derivatives. Instead, the Americans use Volkswagen. On the basis of the modular electrification kit (MEB) from Wolfsburg, further electric vehicles are to be built from 2023.

After many years of abstinence, the Americans are bringing the luxury SUV Explorer back to Europe. However, not as diesel, as initially assumed (here the applications for Euro 6d would have been simply too complex), but exclusively as a plug-in hybrid. A six-cylinder with 363 hp is combined with a 102 hp electric motor. The system output is 457 hp. The electric range should be 48 kilometers. The price that Ford is calling seems quite ambitious: 74,000 euros. The market launch is in March.

Commercial vehicles are also being electrified

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In the future, goods and people should be transported in an environmentally friendly manner with the Turneo Custom and Transit Custrom. Both models feature a plug-in hybrid, but the combustion engine (a 1.3-liter three-cylinder) only functions as a range extender and does not drive the wheels. In 2021, Ford plans to operate the Transit as a purely electric minibus. Prototypes are already running. The drive train comes from the StreetScooter Work XL and offers a range of around 150 kilometers.

When the third generation of the Kuga (C2 platform) is launched in spring, the focus here will also be on electricity. Ford estimates that 40 percent of buyers will opt for an electrified variant. The Kuga - it is one of the brand's three top sellers - comes as a mild, full and plug-in hybrid. The latter has a 2.5-liter gasoline engine, while the mild hybrid has a two-liter diesel under the hood. The Puma (B platform of the Fiesta) will not have a plug-in hybrid for cost reasons. Ford only offers a mild hybrid system here, and only for a single engine variant. (SP-X)

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