Ford Showed a $2 Billion Electric Car Assembly Plant

The European division of Ford announced the start of production of the Explorer electric crossover at a plant in Cologne. At the same time, a video story about the assembly process was published, which gives an idea of ​​the plant itself. Repurposing the factory to produce electric vehicles cost the concern $2 billion in investments.

In particular, the plant installed a new welding and painting line, which includes more than 600 robots. Automatic, unmanned carts are used to move components. Production processes are controlled using a single digital system with elements of artificial intelligence and self-learning – it is capable of controlling the assembly in real-time, down to the number of parts at each station. Employees were provided with individual tablets to communicate with the digital center.

The battery-powered Ford Explorer for Europe was introduced back in March last year. A 4.5-meter crossover on a platform from Volkswagen will be able to travel up to 600 kilometers without recharging thanks to a 79-kilowatt battery. At the start of sales, Explorer will receive a twin-engine power plant with a capacity of 340 hp, and later a single-wheel drive 286-horsepower modification will appear. Acceleration to 100 km/h for the electric car will take 5.3 and 6.4 seconds, respectively, with an identical top speed of 180 km/h.

The concern announced that by the end of the year another battery-powered product will hit the assembly line at the Cologne plant – a sports crossover that has not yet been presented.

In March of this year, the electric car completed a trip around the world, which it set off on immediately after the premiere. For the distance of 30 thousand kilometers that the Explorer covered, the concern calls the journey “the greatest test drive.” It is claimed that this is the world’s first circumnavigation of the world in an electric car: Lexi Alford, who piloted the Explorer, drove it through 27 countries.