Ford motor vehicles to go all-electric by 2030

On Wednesday, Ford Motor Vehicle, the American multinational automaker, has announced that by 2030 all of its cars sold in Europe will be electric. The announcement was made as part of an attempt to move away from pollution-causing internal combustion engines and become more climate-friendly.

In the UK and Europe, the company will stop selling cars with internal combustion, and by 2026 all of Ford's passenger cars would be zero-emissions cars capable of an all-electric or plug-in hybrid. They will be completely all-electric by 2030.

Ford, which holds a 15 per cent share of the regional market, is the largest carmaker to make such an announcement in Europe. The company said it would invest $1bn for updating its vehicle assembly factory in Cologne, Germany, to become its first electric vehicle facility in Europe to produce a mass-market electric vehicle by 2023.

"We are charging into an all-electric future in Europe with expressive new vehicles and a world-class connected customer experience. Our announcement today to transform our Cologne facility, the home of our operations in Germany for 90 years, is one of the most significant Ford has made in over a generation. It underlines our commitment to Europe and a modern future with electric vehicles at the heart of our strategy for growth," said Stuart Rowley, the head of Ford's European operations.

The UK has already set out to ban all conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans from sale in 2030. France is also aiming for the same by 2040.

Ford's effort to speed up its electrification plans is to catch up to Tesla, which has been the only automaker to build an EV business successfully over the last few years.