Ford Backs Off EV-Only Strategy In Europe By 2030: ‘It Was Too...

Ford Backs Off EV-Only Strategy In Europe By 2030: ‘It Was Too Ambitious’
Story by Iulian Dnistran
• 22h •
EVs are still on the cards, but they’ll be joined by more hybrids. Sounds familiar?

Aday after announcing it would spend billions to build gas-powered trucks at a North American plant once earmarked for electric vehicles, Ford's European division also admitted it would rethink its plans to go all-EV there by the next decade.

Back in 2021, Ford pledged it would have an all-electric lineup of vehicles in Europe by 2030, but that plan has now changed to include more hybrid vehicles which are currently unknown.

“I think customers have voted, and they told us that [the plan] was too ambitious, is what I would say—and I think everyone in the industry has found that out the hard way,” Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer of Ford’s Model E division, told Autocar. “I would also say reality has a way of making you adjust your plans,” he added.

The executive cited the faltering adoption of EVs—which has been slower as of late in Europe than in the U.S.—coupled with high battery costs and disappearing government incentives as the main reasons for the decision. "We don't see that going all-electric by 2030 is a good choice for our business or, especially, for our customers,” Gjaja added.

The American-based automaker follows in the footsteps of Volkswagen, Kia, Genesis and General Motors, all of which are planning on launching more hybrid and plug-in hybrid models in the years to come in place of ambitious electric-only plans. Some, like Volkswagen, have cited the same EV demand slowdown, while others, like General Motors, said they’re going down the hybrid route to make it easier to comply with upcoming emissions regulations.

A new European Union law says that car manufacturers will no longer be allowed to sell new vehicles that have tailpipe emissions from 2035, essentially restricting the market to EVs only. However, one of the major political groups in the European Parliament intends to water down those rules to “allow for the use of alternative zero-emissions fuels” beyond 2035, which would include biomethane, hydrogen, ammonia, biofuels and e-fuels like that developed by Porsche.