Ford doubling investment in electric vehicles

Ford is doubling down on electric vehicles by, quite literally, doubling its overall investment in them.

The company announced it’s increasing its investment in electrification to US$22 billion (A$28.96 billion) by 2025, while also announcing an overall investment of US$7 billion (A$9.2 billion) in autonomous vehicle technology.

The US$22 billion figure includes the US$7 billion Ford has already spent since 2016.

The company announced in 2018 it was investing $11 billion in EV technology by 2022 with plans to roll out 16 fully electric cars within five years.

The increase still puts it behind cross-town rival General Motors, who has earmarked US$27 billion through 2025.

Ford introduced its first ground-up EV, the Mustang Mach-E, last year and will introduce an electric version of its Transit in markets like the US later this year.

Next year will see the introduction of an EV version of the F-150, the United States’ best-selling vehicle since 1981.

Ford has also confirmed it’ll begin production of electric SUVs in two plants in Canada, including the Oakville, Ontario plant that currently builds the Ford Edge (aka Endura).

The luxury Lincoln brand is in line to receive an electric SUV, which would be the brand’s first.

While it’s expanding its slate of EV models, Ford has also been rolling out hybrid and plug-in hybrid models including the Ford Escape/Kuga and Explorer and their Lincoln Corsair and Aviator platform-mates.

The company announced its increased spending as part of a fourth quarter earnings call, where it confirmed a net loss of US$2.8 billion (A$3.68 billion) for the quarter and US$1.3 billion (A$1.71 billion) for the full year.

It’s estimating it’ll earn between US$8-9 billion in pre-tax profits this year, though a semiconductor shortage gripping its best-selling model, the F-150, has the potential to eat away at profits.