CARS.COM — Amid plans to offer more than a dozen new hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles worldwide by 2022, Ford has reportedly formed a new team to develop electric cars.
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Citing an interview with Sherif Marakby, Ford’s head of autonomous cars and electrification, Automotive News reports the automaker has created a new cross-functional group dubbed “Team Edison” that will research and develop fully electric cars separately from its current efforts on hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
Ford announced in January plans for 13 new electrified cars worldwide in the next five years. Among them will be hybrid versions of the F-150 pickup truck and Mustang sports car — the latter with V-8-like power, Ford promises — by 2020. Ford also plans an all-electric SUV with an expected range of “at least 300 miles” and a self-driving car in 2021 for commercial ride-hailing and ride-sharing. Ford’s first hybrids will have EcoBoost turbocharged engines, the automaker said.