Foto: Ford

Ford will offer five electric or hybrid vehicles in Europe across its C (compact), C/D (mid-size) and light commercial vehicle ranges by 2013. Besides the Transit Connect Electric, Ford will offer the Focus Electric in 2012, two unnamed gasoline hybrid vehicles and one unnamed plug-in hybrid model. The hybrids will appear in 2013. The vehicles will be available in North America six to 12 months before sales in Europe.

“Electrification from our view is going to be a part of the global fuel diversity,” Nancy Gioia, Ford’s director of global electrification, said during a press event last week. Gioia said that Ford’s next-generation C and C/D vehicle platforms have been engineered for hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric, gasoline and diesel applications, and Ford plans to have 10 to 25 percent of its fleet electrified by 2020. Specific percentages will depend on regional factors such as fuel prices, government incentives and economic conditions as well as whether breakthroughs dramatically boost the fuel economy of vehicles using gas and diesel engines. For North America, of that 10 to 25 percent, about 70 percent will be hybrid vehicles, about 20 percent plug-ins and about 5 percent electric, Gioia said. Ford estimates a plus or minus factor of 5 percentage points.

Ford’s product development team is participating in two European trial initiatives to demonstrate electric technology in real-world driving conditions and the team will generate feedback to help further develop the Focus Electric and Transit Connect Electric for acceptance in Europe.