Ford boosts electric fund to $11bn

Ford has upped its investment in electric cars after injecting an additional $11bn (£8bn) towards developing a new range of EVs and hybrids by 2022.

Speaking at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, company chairman Bill Ford said the car firm plans to add 40 hybrid and fully-electric vehicles to its range, The Independent reports. The new range will consist of all-new vehicles and electrified versions of existing models.

“We’re all in on this and we’re taking our mainstream vehicles, our most iconic vehicles, and we’re electrifying them”, he said. “If we want to be successful with electrification, we have to do it with vehicles that are already popular.”

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The company’s pledge to electric cars is now significantly larger than its initial target investment of $4.5bn (£3.3bn) by 2020, says The Independent.

Stephanie Brinley, an analyst at the data firm IHS Markit, told BBC News that Ford’s EV push was a reaction to “tougher regulation but also the expectation that electric vehicles will support autonomous driving.”

“The big question is how quickly consumers will adapt as electric is only 1% of the market right now,” she said.

Meanwhile The Verge says Ford plans to develop an electric SUV with the iconic Mach 1 name, previously reserved for the company’s Mustang sports car.

Little is known about the Mach 1 SUV, but it’s expected to launch in 2020 as part of the car firm’s investment in electric cars.