According to Automotive News, Ford has announced plans to double its projected global electric vehicle (EV) production to 600,000 units within the next 24 months.
If Ford succeeds in doing so, the veteran automaker will become the No. 2 manufacturer of EVs in the U.S., behind only Tesla. According to Ford CEO Jim Farley, the carmaker originally intended to only be producing 300,000 EVs in two years’ time.
The production would be spread among the company’s first three EVs: the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit, and would reach 600,000-per-year before its $5.6 billion USD Blue Oval City factory in Tennessee even comes online.
Once Ford hits 600,000 units per year, Farley said the carmaker could challenge for the No. 1 spot. “The demand is so much higher than we expected,” the CEO said in an interview. “It is a really new experience for this big company, trying to be agile. We had to approach it very differently than we’ve done capacity planning.”
The F-150 Lightning is nearing 200,000 reservations, said Farley in an interview with Automotive News, adding “north of 80 percent” of pre-orders to turn into actual sales; the electric truck is slated to launch in 2022. Originally, the Ford team projected volumes of 20,000 for its Lightning electric truck.
Earlier this year, Ford hit a major milestone as production for its all-electric Mustang Mach-E surpassed gas versions. Ford currently plans on investing up to $30 billion USD in EV production by 2025.
“I’m saying No. 2 in the next two years,” explained the Ford CEO. “Imagine what we can do after that.”
In addition, it would serve Ford well to ramp up production as quickly as possible ahead of the possible implementation of U.S. President Joe Biden’s proposed increase in EV tax credits, which is skewed in favor of local, unionized manufacturers like Ford.
