Ford And Volkswagen Expand Partnership For Development Of EVs And Autonomous Tech

• Ford’s first all-electric vehicle underpinned by the MEB platform is slated to hit roads by 2023.
• The American carmaker is also considering to introduce another electric vehicle in Europe.
• Both the companies will also invest in Argo AI for implementing autonomous tech in European and United States models.
• VW and Ford on track to introduce medium pickup trucks and commercial vans in 2022.

Ford and Volkswagen, two of the world’s largest carmakers, joined forces with a global alliance in January this year. While the first of its kind partnership initially focused on utility vehicles like pickup trucks and vans, the carmakers have now expanded it further to build EVs and autonomous vehicles together.

The announcement comes bang in a time when automotive manufacturers around the globe are looking to join hands for developing EVs by sharing platforms, which is a huge cost saving.

Under the ambit of the partnership, Ford will become the first carmaker outside the Volkswagen Group to use the latter’s Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB) platform, with the first vehicle underpinning it set to roll out in 2023. Ford also plans to deliver more than 6,00,000 electric vehicles based on the MEB over the next six years in European markets.

Apart from this, the carmaker is also considering a second all-electric model for the European market on the new platform. The move will not only help Ford meet the stringent emission standards set in Europe but will also help the carmaker expand its product lineup.

Volkswagen started developing its MEB platform in 2016, investing approximately $7 billion in it. The carmaker is planning to use this platform to build approximately 15 million cars for the Volkswagen Group alone in the next decade. The MEB platform is highly modular in nature and underpins VW cars from the ID Series like the ID.3 and the Audi Q4 e-tron.

Speaking on the announcement, Volkswagen CEO Dr. Herbert Diess said “Our global alliance is beginning to demonstrate even greater promise, and we are continuing to look at other areas on which we might collaborate. Scaling our MEB drives down development costs for zero-emissions vehicles, allowing for a broader and faster global adoption of electric vehicles.”

Apart from platform sharing for EVs, VW and Ford will also be investing in Argo AI, the autonomous vehicle platform company, to introduce the technology in the United States and Europe models. Both the brands will invest more than $7billion (Rs 47,975 crore) in the company and will own an equal stake in it.

Argo AI plans to work closely with Ford and Volkswagen to provide the autonomous vehicle technology the automakers need to deliver fully integrated self-driving vehicles that can be manufactured at scale for safe, reliable and durable deployment in ride sharing and goods delivery services.