Transit Connect Electric will be the first step in the maker's expanding electric vehicle program.
With its first battery-electric vehicle set to go into production later this year, Ford Motor Co. is announcing big steps to move its “electrification’ program forward, including a $135 million investment and the creation of 220 new jobs.
Michigan will become its new “center of excellence” for the design, engineering and production of future battery-based vehicles, Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas, announced from the maker’s Rawsonville (Michigan) Assembly Plant, a facility that will produce a battery-electric version of the new Focus model.
Meanwhile, production of hybrid battery packs will now be moved from Mexico to the Detroit area.
“Electrified vehicles are a key part of our plan to offer a full lineup of green vehicles, and we are building a center of excellence in the U.S., here in Michigan, to keep Ford on the cutting edge,” said Fields. “Today’s announcement is another important step in our larger strategy to launch a family of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles around the world.”
Along with conventional hybrid-electric vehicles, such as the Fusion Hybrid – which was named North American Car of the Year, last January – Ford plans to launch two models that will run solely on battery power: the Focus Electric and the Transit Connect Electric.
It will also produce three plug-in hybrid models, including one based off the latest version of the C-Max people mover. These vehicles that will permit a motorist to commute solely on battery power but automatically switch to gasoline mode when the battery runs down.
All five models will be on the market in the U.S. by 2012. They’ll roll out in Europe by 2013.
To bring these and other battery-based vehicles to market Ford will expand its electric vehicle engineering capabilities, basing those operations in the metropolitan Detroit area. A total of 220 jobs will be created, including 50 engineering positions.
Going forward, advanced ithium-ion battery packs will be designed and engineered in Michigan, and assembly operations will be moved from Mexico to the Rawsonville plant.
The new center of excellence will develop a next-generation front-drive continuously-variable hybrid drivetrain for future hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Codenamed the HF35, it will be produced at a factory in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights.
The Ford announcement is particularly good news for Michigan, which is struggling to rebuild its automotive job and research base, especially in light of all the changes underway in the auto industry. The struggling state is competing against a number of other locations, including California and Indiana, which also hope to become centers of the new battery car industry.
“We’re working hard to make Michigan the center for electrified vehicle technology and production,” said Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, during the Rawsonville news conference. “Today’s announcement by Ford represents another step forward in moving Michigan from the Rust Belt to the Green Belt by investing in green technology and creating green jobs.”
Ford isn’t the only automaker boosting Michigan’s ties to the electrification of the auto industry. The new Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle will be produced in the states, with sales starting in November. Key components, including the batteries for Volt will be produced and assembled in Michign.
Meanwhle, Chrysler will become the center of excellence for electrification efforts by the long-troubled maker as well as its Italian partner, Fiat.