Ford chiefs have said that the company is to invest £3bn in a new range of electric and hybrid vehicles, with an aim to offering a total of 13 new electric models by 2020.
Top of the list will be a new electric version of the Ford Focus, which will be redesigned to charge its batteries much quicker than before and also offer a longer range compared with the current model.
Able to charge itself to 80 per cent capacity in just half an hour, the proposed new Focus will also have an estimated range of around 100 miles, while the current version can manage up to 76.
Following the electric Focus, Ford is also planning to expand its Mondeo hybrid range and will also introduce a new plug-in hybrid version of the C-Max family MPV to China next year.
The marque’s new initiative comes as part of a broader effort from chief executive Mark Fields to counter competitors which offer low-emissions vehicles, plus increasing government regulations.
According to Mr Fields, Ford wants 40 per cent of its vehicles to be hybrids or all-electric vehicles by 2020, up from the 13 per cent that the company currently offers.
Ford has said that it also intends to move into the commercial ride-hailing market occupied by marques like Uber and Lyft, which it estimates is worth around $5 trillion.
Ken Washington, Ford’s vice president of research, said: “Our vision is to be a mobility service provider, beyond building a vehicle that would be in somebody else's fleet. We see this as a business we want to be in.”
