Ford to Spend $4.5 Billion on Electrified Vehicles

Ford Motor Co. expects to invest $4.5 billion to develop and launch new hybrid and all-electric vehicles by 2020.

The company says it will introduce 13 new electrified models by 2020, thereby making such options available in 40% of its nameplates worldwide.

Details about Ford’s program are skimpy. But the plans include launching a next-generation Focus electric sedan for the U.S. and European market in late 2016. The car is expected to have a 100-mile range and a battery that can be charged to 80% of capacity in 30 minutes, plus new instrumentation to help drivers maximize efficiency.

The spending program will make investments in battery technology in Asia and Europe, including a $2.1 million battery lab at the University of Michigan, according to the company.

Ford also vows to study consumers more closely through ethnographic and social science-based research. Its aim is to determine how to best present new technologies to customers. Raj Nair, executive vice president of product development, says the company wants to look at the way customers interact with its vehicles as a “unified experience.”