The ink dried on Ford’s electric platform deal with Volkswagen some time ago and now we’re getting our first look at the results of that agreement. The vehicle spied here and which may or may not be a rolling clay prototype, the spy photographers assure us, Ford’s MEB-based vehicle. The all-electric vehicle is based on the same platform as the ID.3 and the ID.4 and will be sold in Europe, but is unlikely to make it Stateside.
Although it’s still literally under wraps,
the shape of the compact-sized crossover can be seen here. Ford appears to have
taken this vehicle in a different design direction than the ID.4, preferring
straight, boxy lines to the VW’s flowing, rounded lines. That decision also
lends to making this look long and low and, at this early stage, pretty good.
Unfortunately, little more can be gleaned
from these early pictures. They are very early, though, because the vehicle
isn’t expected to go into production until 2023 at Ford’s Cologne Assembly
Plant in Germany. Although Ford hasn’t released any performance specs, we do
know a lot about the MEB platform at this point. The ID.4, for example, gets
250 miles of range, per the EPA, and up to 302 hp in AWD configuration or 201
hp in RWD configuration.
As part of the deal that Ford signed to
get the Volkswagen’s EV platform, it agreed to share its pickup and Transit
chassis. That will mean that these EVs won’t be the only Ford-VW co-productions
on European roads soon. The next Volkswagen Amarok pickup is expected to share
much in common with the Ford Ranger, though the American manufacturer still
thinks its will be better. Volkswagen will also get a full-size van out of the
arrangement.
