Car manufacturer Ford has teamed up with electric vehicle charging network Allego to roll out ultra-fast chargers for electric vehicle customers as the brand gets ready to challenge Tesla.
There are hopes that the chargers will be installed from the beginning of 2025 in the US and would be in place at many European dealerships over the next three to four years.
The rollout of the chargers will be ahead of the highly anticipated new Ford electric vehicle which is reported to hit forecourts in 2026.
The vehicle is estimated to be priced at roughly £19,000 making it nearly 50 per cent cheaper than Tesla’s Model 3.
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The Ford model E will arrive in 2026 with a price estimated at around $25,000
FORDMathieu Bonnet, CEO of Allego, said: "By enabling any EV driver to charge at these Ford dealerships, we contribute to better EV penetration.”
A lack of charging infrastructure and affordable prices have been identified as the major roadblocks to the mass adoption of EVs in Europe and a contributing factor to the slowing demand for electric cars.
As part of the partnership, Allego will install charging stations capable of delivering up to 400kW charging available to EV drivers.
As Allego will be investing in the charging stations, the company will benefit from the revenue created. Owners of Ford vehicles who subscribe to the BlueOval charging service will see preferential rates when recharging.
Ford’s model E vehicle is said to be followed by a similar-sized SUV, in addition to it being suited for ride-hailing services, according to Bloomberg.
Last month, Jim Farley, CEO at Ford, said: “We have announced plans to significantly increase our electric vehicle production volumes.
“However, our ability to produce higher volumes of electric vehicles is dependent upon the availability of raw materials and other components necessary for the production of batteries, e.g lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and manganese, among others."
The upcoming vehicle will use a lithium-iron-phosphate battery that should deliver extended range and faster recharging.
Joerg Hofmeister, head of charging and energy, Ford Model e, Europe, said the chargers would be focused on the brand's core markets across the UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain, plus some other smaller markets such as Norway.
Currently, Ford has roughly 1,800 European dealerships, with those in urban areas or popular for EV sales, likely to receive ultra-fast charging points.
Hofmeister added that offering the chargers for public use would help overcome charging infrastructure challenges and would bring the owners of other EV brands in contact with Ford's own offerings at dealerships.
The race to electrification has been boosted by the UK announcing ambitious targets to get 80 per cent of new cars and 70 per cent of new vans sold to be zero emission by 2030, increasing to 100 per cent by 2035.
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There are now over one million electric cars on UK roads and a further 620,000 plug-in hybrids
PAAs of the end of February 2024, there are now over one million electric cars on UK roads and a further 620,000 plug-in hybrids, as well as more than 57,000 public chargers.