Volkswagen Could Share its EV Platform with Ford

TopSpeed

By Andrei Nedelea

Published Nov 1, 2018

The Blue Oval needs all the help it can get with electrifying its range

Last week Bloomberg published a report that the Volkswagen Group and the Ford Motor company are looking to collaborate to create self-driving vehicles in order to reduce development costs on both sides. It was definitely a change as the two companies’ initial tie-up announcement was only supposed to involve commercial vehicles - now it could be expanded with electric vehicle platform sharing too.

According to Automotive News, VW does not exclude the possibility of sharing its MEB platform specifically designed for EVs.

Ford has not announced any intentions to use the VW platform, though, and it may realistically not even need it as the company is aware of the fact that its rivals electric programs are more advanced and has redirected a lot of investment into the EV segment. This comes in the context where the Blue Oval has announced it will drop many traditional models from its range in the quest for profitability.

This is a drastic reduction of their car range - in North America, it will end up only selling the Mustang and the Focus Active; there won’t be a next Fusion or Taurus, so buyers looking for a bigger Ford will have to make do with either a high-rider or a pickup.

Where do electric vehicles fit into this scheme? Well, EV popularity is on the rise as these types of vehicles become more and more competent, with better range, performance, and design. Ford will offer more electrified versions of the models it will keep selling, as well as several all-electric models that will hopefully be better than the lackluster Focus Electric that hardly anybody bought.

The company has teased the vehicle, but we really don’t know anything about it yet other than the fact that it has styling like the Mustang, a range of around 480 km or 300 miles, and that it could be called the Mach 1. But it’s already in development, and it definitely won’t be underpinned by VW’s MEB platform, so if Ford gains the right to use it, it could be used to create additional EVs to add to its roster.

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