Ford of Europe begins manufacturing of the Explorer EV at its main factory in Cologne, Germany. The Explorer EV is a car that has American roots in its name but is primarily Volkswagen DNA.
Ford of Europe declared around three years ago that it will go entirely electric by 2030, and as a result, it stopped producing several models, including the Fiesta, in the years that followed. But as of late last year, the climate isn’t as favorable for EVs as everyone thought, thus it seems sense that the US automaker is prepared to change direction as well.
Not completely, though, as they continue to rely on electrified offerings. The Kuga (also known as Escape) boasts a plug-in hybrid powertrain, the little Puma crossover is a mild hybrid by default as of the current model year, and the all-new Explorer EV will soon join the E-Transit and Mustang Mach-E at dealerships in the UK and continental Europe.
More specifically, in its main assembly factory in Cologne, Germany, the Blue Oval company has announced that it has now begun mass production of the new all-electric Explorer. Based on the same MEB architecture as the Volkswagen Group’s ID.4, Skoda Enyaq, and Audi Q4 e-tron, this model set is the first to be manufactured at the recently opened Ford Cologne Electric Vehicle Center and is currently being delivered to customers throughout the region.
The “state-of-the-art” Electric Vehicle Center, which guarantees high-quality EV production, is expected to return $2 billion in investment. Additionally, the historic plant, which has been transformed into a “factory of the future,” is a vital component of Ford’s “Road to Better” strategy, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality across all of its European production facilities by 2035, including in terms of logistics and direct suppliers.
The all-electric Ford Explorer is the first in a new line of premium electric passenger cars for the Old Continent, and a sporty CUV is the second EV that will shortly be unveiled. Production of both vehicles is expected to conclude in Cologne by the end of the year. With “German engineering, an American attitude” and a powertrain capable of more than 600 km of range on a single charge, the new all-electric Explorer is impressive.
It’s quite wonderful to watch the 1930s Ford factory in Cologne be turned into a cutting-edge facility for producing electric vehicles. “With the introduction of the new all-electric Explorer, Ford in Europe is embarking on a new chapter in its history as we begin mass production of electric vehicles,” stated Kieran Cahill, vice president of Manufacturing for Ford in Europe and International Markets Group.
At the Cologne Electric Vehicle Center, for instance, there are more than 600 new robots operating in the welding, cutting, dusting, painting, and fusing departments, as well as “a symphony of hundreds of carefully choreographed state-of-the-art robots,” self-learning devices, and advanced artificial intelligence. A “digital twin” shown on a large touchscreen is another feature that keeps an eye on the assembly process in real time, monitoring every workstation with data on tooling, material supply, work safety, and other aspects. A new control center is also in place to oversee the operation.