Ford shows its first electric family car for Europe – can it catch up?

With the first electric car produced in Europe, Ford wants to make up for competition in the important car market. The manufacturer showed the E version of the Explorer on Tuesday in Cologne.

It should be of great importance to the American group’s European and German operations. Ford has recently made a name for itself here with budget cuts. And compared to the range of e-cars from other German brands such as Volkswagen, Opel, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, Cologne-based Ford is currently lagging considerably behind.

The company sees its new electric SUV as a “pioneer for a purely electric model range that will reposition Ford in Europe”. The “crossover” five-seater is intended to be the start of a series of its own Stromer that will be built by 2030.

The new E-Explorer for Europe is aimed at families, but with a length of 4.45 meters it is a size smaller than its namesake in the US. With a minimum boot capacity of 450 liters, it still offers enough space.

It is available in three power levels from 125 kW/170 hp to 250 kW/340 hp and with rear or all-wheel drive. As with VW’s ID.3 and ID.4, the larger of the two battery options should have a capacity of 77 kWh and be sufficient for about 500 kilometers. With DC fast charging, the battery pack can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in 25 minutes.

Equipment includes a highway lane change assistant, which can automatically change lanes by tapping the turn signal lever.

Production will start at Ford’s Cologne e-car center in the third quarter and sales in Europe are scheduled to start this year. The base price must be less than 45,000 euros. Cheaper electric models from Ford will follow in 2024.

Central components from VW

A powerful partner has also played a decisive role in some of Ford’s electric cars: the Cologne-based company has central components of the powertrain supplied by the Volkswagen Group. Parts of the MEB e-platform are now open to external industry customers.

It is therefore not entirely coincidental that the basic structure of the E-Explorer is somewhat similar to that of the VW electric SUV ID.4. The target prices are also in a similar range.

The car manufacturers are increasingly moving to the use of standardized identical parts systems in mass production. This saves costs for large production numbers and reduces technical effort.

2300 jobs disappeared

During the presentation to many employees, management emphasized that the E-Explorer was primarily developed in Germany. German boss Martin Sander added: “We are building it in Cologne for our customers in Europe.” Such clarifications may also have been helpful as Ford announced its next round of austerity measures in February. By the end of 2025, 2,300 jobs will disappear.

Ford currently has more than 14,000 employees in Cologne and 200 in a research center in Aachen. Product development in particular is going under the wheels – 1,700 jobs are at risk of being lost, almost half of the jobs there. In Saarlouis, production should stop in 2025.

It is feared that the design and planning of new vehicles in the future will be dominated too much by American colleagues – with the risk of no longer taking into account the specific wishes of customers in the European market.

However, Ford is also investing billions in converting electric car production at its regional headquarters in Cologne, even as model development is being scaled down at the same time. Sander had replied that the latter remained strong enough to continue to have a say. In terms of design, however, “We want to become more American.”

Collaboration on different models

The Ford Group and VW are also collaborating on other models, for example in the light commercial vehicle segment. Thus, the new version of the Volkswagen Amarok pick-up was born as a collaboration between the two companies. VW wants to do business with other manufacturers for its electric kits, such as the Indian supplier Mahindra.

(oli/sda/awp/dpa)