With Europe planning to cut transportation-related emissions by 90% by 2050, Ford (F 0.47%) announced today that it is joining a growing list of companies planning to sell only electric vehicles (EVs) before then.
The carmaker said within the next five years, all of its European cars will be zero-emission vehicles with buyers having the option of buying all-electric or hybrid models. And by 2030, its passenger cars will be all-electric.
It committed to spending $1 billion to upgrade its factory in Cologne, Germany, to create an electrification center producing its first European-built EV by 2023, with a goal for a second EV to be built there.
Image source: Ford.
Volkswagen's Bentley Motors announced in November that its vehicles will be all-electric by 2030, while Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover subsidiary said on Monday that its Land Rover division will be fully electric by then as well.
General Motors said last month that its cars will be emissions-free by 2035, and Nissan said that sometime in the early 2030s, its cars will be all-electric.
The push comes as countries such as the U.K. intend to ban internal combustion engines by 2030 and sales of EVs are growing globally. Chinese automakers NIO and XPeng are reporting record levels of deliveries, while Tesla had record sales last year with a promise to accelerate even faster in 2021.
Carmakers sold more EVs and hybrids in Europe last year than in China for the first time.
Ford also committed to upgrade its commercial fleet, though on a somewhat longer timeline, with two-thirds of commercial vehicle sales being all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030.
The automaker has restructured its operations and became profitable in Europe in the fourth quarter. It also previously announced a $22 billion global EV investment program.
