Earlier this year, Ford announced its European strategy to only sell electric vehicles on the continent by 2030 and to only produce electric commercial vehicles in Europe by 2024
Automaker Ford motor is investing over $315 million as it begins to manufacturing electric vehicle parts in Europe as part of its shift from traditional internal combustion engines to electric zero-emission vehicles.
It would transform its Halewood, U.K. vehicle transmission facility into an electric power unit plant, making it Ford’s first EV component in-house assembly site in Europe.
Ford said the Halewood plant will start producing the electric car parts by mid-2024, with production capacity planned to be around 250,000 units per year.
The car company said the investment includes support from the British government through its Automotive Transformation Fund.
The investment is subject to and includes about $42 million (£30 million) from the U.K. government through its Automotive Transformation Fund, according to The Times.
“This is an important step, marking Ford’s first in-house investment in all-electric vehicle component manufacturing in Europe,” Stuart Rowley, president of Ford Europe, said in a statement.
“It strengthens further our ability to deliver 100 percent of Ford passenger vehicles in Europe being all-electric and two-thirds of our commercial vehicle sales being all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030,” Rowley said.
“In this highly competitive, global race to secure electric vehicle manufacturing, our priority is to ensure the U.K. reaps the benefits,” Kwasi Kwarteng, the U.K. government’s business secretary and member of parliament, said in a statement.
The move comes as several large automakers are shifting toward electric vehicles amid increasing pressure by governments and regulators to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions to curb climate change.
Earlier this year, Ford announced its European strategy to only sell electric vehicles on the continent by 2030 and to only produce electric commercial vehicles in Europe by 2024. The company spent $1 billion to revamp an assembly factory in Cologne, Germany and predicts that electric models will account for two-thirds of its European sales.
