Ford to invest $4.5 billion in electric cars

Ford has announced plans to invest $4.5 billion (roughly £2.9 billion) in building electric cars and to introduce 13 new all electric models by 2020.

The plan to introduce a fleet of electric vehicles starts next year, when the company will put a new Focus Electric into production, with a new fast-charge capability which can purportedly deliver an 80 per cent charge in 30 minutes, as well as an improved 100-mile range. According to Autocar, the first fruits of Ford's new push into the electric vehicle (EV) market should go on sale in the UK late next year.

Ford promises that the new Focus Electric will be fun to drive, and will come equipped with elements of driver coaching, such as displays which assist the driver in "maximising efficiency", as well a "brake coach" function which will help drivers when they use regenerative braking.

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Development of the Focus Electric will aim to bring the new car more in line with other all-electric vehicles. CarBuyer says that the previous electric Focus struggled against purpose-built rivals, like the BMW i3. The last Focus Electric had a range of 76 miles, due to the impracticalities of converting an existing car to run on electricity, rather than building one from the ground up.

The company aims to introduce electric versions for 40 per cent of their current range over the next five years, and is introducing new elements of market research which will focus much more on how drivers interact with their vehicles.

The BBC reports that Ford also plans to move into the commercial ride-hailing market, currently dominated by Uber and Lyft.

"Our vision is to be a mobility service provider, beyond building a vehicle that would be in somebody else's fleet. We see this as a business we want to be in," said Ken Washington, Ford's Vice President of Research.