Ford Invests $4.5 Billion to Expand Electric Car Fleet

Ford has announced it will invest $4.5 billion to expand its fleet of plug-in and hybrid electric cars, and will start selling 13 new electric models by 2020.

That will include a new Ford Focus that charges more quickly and has a longer range, the car giant said.

Ford also intends to move into the commercial ride-hailing market occupied by companies such as Uber and Lyft.

The market is worth $5 trillion, Ford said.

The initiatives are part of a broader effort by CEO Mark Fields to counter companies offering alternatives to car ownership and regulators who want vehicles to emit less carbon dioxide.

Mark Fields said the company wants 40% of its vehicles to have electric versions by 2020, up from 13% now.

The new Focus will take an 80% charge in 30 minutes, about two hours faster than the current version, the automaker said. It will also have an estimated 100-mile range, as opposed to 76 miles.

Ford also plans to introduce a Mondeo hybrid and a C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid in China next year.

The company currently sells electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of its Focus, Fusion, C-Max and Lincoln MKZ cars.

Ford also wants to expand an employee van-hailing service beyond its sprawling corporate campus, and develop it commercially.

“The market for vehicle miles travelled is $5 trillion,” Mark Fields said.

“We get zero of that.”

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.”