- Ford today started mass production of the new electric Ford Explorer, at its new bespoke EV facility in Cologne, Germany.
- The Electric Explorer is the fourth EV globally from Ford, with another unnamed electric sports crossover set to be built at the Cologne plant next.
- Underpinned by the same EV platform as the Volkswagen ID.4, the Explorer EV is looking to compete against other similar options in the £40,000 ballpark such as the Nissan Ariya and Tesla Model Y.
Ford’s German EV production commences
The Explorer is the first electric Ford to be manufactured within Germany. The EV is already available to order for European customers, with the first examples arriving to customers soon. An electric sports crossover, also based on Volkswagen’s MEB platform, is also set to be built at the factory in the future. This so far unnamed model could mark the return of the Capri moniker, which has previously been rumoured to return in electric form.
The facility in question where the Explorer is being manufactured dates back to 1930, previously producing classic models such as the Model A and Fiesta. Ford has now invested $2bn to convert the plant into an EV-ready production line, with the capacity to produce over 250,000 EVs a year. Ford also says that the Cologne facility will be one of the most sustainable EV production sites globally, with reduced emissions, and water and energy usage, combined with its plan for all its European facilities to be carbon neutral by 2035.
VP of Manufacturing for Ford in Europe and International Markets Group, Kieran Cahill, commented:
“To see the Cologne factory founded by Ford in 1930 being transformed into a state-of-the-art electric vehicle production facility is nothing short of amazing. The start of mass production of electric vehicles, with the new all-electric Explorer, marks the beginning of a new era for Ford in Europe”.
