Ford Starts Electric Drive Mass Production at Its Transformed U.K. Halewood Plant

Despite a slowdown in consumer demand for battery-electric vehicles in Europe, Ford is starting mass production of electric drives at its Halewood plant in the U.K.

The facility claims to be able to achieve an annual potential output of 420,000 units, enough to power 70% of Ford’s BEVs planned for European markets.

Its investment in a total package of £380 million ($484 million), including £30.9 million ($39.3 million) of government support through the U.K.’s Automotive Transformation Fund, transforms the plant near Liverpool, northwest England, from a traditional transmissions facility and will initially supply drives for the electric Ford E-Transit Custom LCV, E-Tourneo Custom and Puma Gen-E models.

The investment is being seen as part of the support by the automaker for the U.K. government’s commitment to holding to a ban on new internal-combustion-engine vehicles from 2030.

Ford unveiled the Puma Gen-E at the plant as the all-electric version of the U.K.’s best-selling compact crossover model.

The electric Puma Gen-E claims efficiency of 13.1 kWh/100 km, besting the Hyundai Kona's 14.6 kWh/100 km and the Jeep Avenger's 15.4 kWh/100 km. It also claims up to 233 miles (378 km) on a full charge during highway use and up to 324 miles (522 km) of city range with Ford saying most urban users would only have to recharge every third day.

Kieran Cahill, Ford’s European industrial operations vice president, says: “Ford is a global American brand with deep roots in Europe, and Halewood has been a cornerstone of that legacy for 60 years. With Halewood leading the way as our first in-house EV component manufacturing site in Europe, we’re building a thriving future together, with nine electric vehicles on the road in Europe by 2025.”