Ford is scaling up its electric car production further with a £125m (€146m) investment into its Halewood EV components plant in the UK.

The electric power units being produced at Halewood will be in 70% of Ford EVs sold in Europe by 2026

The latest support, which is accompanied by UK government support worth £600m, raises Ford’s total funding in the Merseyside plant to £380m (€443m).

The funding will help the carmaker to expand its electric vehicle production line and deliver on its 2035 net zero plan. It’s planning to go fully electric for new car sales in Europe by 2030, followed by all vehicles including vans by 2035.

Halewood is central to such plans. Ford announced last year that it was investing £230m to transform the site into a components plant for its future electric vehicles, safeguarding 500 jobs.

Today’s announcement increases annual production from 250,000 to 420,000 units, helping Ford to increase its electric vehicle range from currently two to nine models.

The UK-built power units will be used for models including the Ford E-Transit Custom, E-Tourneo Custom, Transit Courier, Tourneo Courier, Puma and further future products.

The electric power units being produced at the site will be in 70% of Ford EVs sold in Europe by 2026.

Ford’s £24m (€28m) E:PRiME centre, at Ford’s Dunton product development HQ, is building prototypes of the electric power unit and training Halewood employees in its machining and assembly, assisted by the Advanced Propulsion Centre.  The power unit, comprising edrive motor and gearbox, replaces the engine and transmission of a conventional engine vehicle by propelling an EV using battery energy.

Tim Slatter, chairman of Ford UK, said: “This is an all-important next step for Ford towards having nine EVs on sale within two years. Our UK workforce is playing a major role in Ford’s all-electric future, demonstrated by Halewood’s pivot to a new zero-emission powertrain, and E:PRiME’s innovation at Dunton in finalising the production processes.”

Halewood will deliver the new power units to the vehicles’ assembly lines at Ford Otosan plants in Romania and Turkey, making up a significant share of Ford UK’s annual export value from the Merseyside plant, as well as Dagenham – currently worth £2.1bn (€2.5m) annually.

The UK government said the investment in Ford was part of plans to put the nation at the forefront of electric car development in Europe as the country transitions to net zero.

This announcement builds on previous government support for Ford’s EV expansion. Total UK Export Finance supported financings for Ford to date amount to almost £1.4bn.

International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: “Our support for Ford is great news for jobs in Essex and Merseyside and British manufacturing as a whole. Ford is a major employer in the UK and the high-skilled jobs it provides help communities to thrive.

“We have consistently backed Ford as it makes its critical transition towards electrification. Boosting electric car production is key to our strategy to combat climate change and today’s news demonstrates how our manufacturing industry, our exports and our economy will benefit from this transition.”