Learning From Ford's Successful Electrification of Halewood
Ford's £125m (US$189m) investment in its Halewood Plant in Merseyside, UK, constituted its next big commitment in expanding its all-electric vehicle range.
This investment increased the plant’s capacity by 70% and was part of a larger effort to transform Halewood into an electric vehicle (EV) component production hub.
In December of last year we saw that effort pay off in real time, as the plant started to manufacture the electric drive units for the all-electric Puma Gen-E and E-Transit Custom, the UK’s two top-selling vehicles.
Today we reflect on the ongoing success of Ford's electrification strategy and what it implies about the future of the automotive sector.
“The start of electric drive unit production at Halewood is a proud moment for us,” says Lee Meyers, Halewood Plant Manager.
“We’re not only embracing an exciting technological transformation but also contributing to the UK’s electric future while investing in our team and community.
"This plant, our people and the region have a bright future as part of Ford’s electrification journey.”
The investment was always thought of as an integral step in Ford's all-electric future, as is evident from comments made at the time by Tim Slatter, Chairman of Ford UK.
“This is an all-important next step for Ford towards having nine Electric Vehicles on sale within two years," he says.
"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.”
This investment took the total commitment to Halewood’s transformation to almost £380m (US$477.7m), signalling Ford’s ambition to lead the charge in EV manufacturing in the UK.
The UK government’s Automotive Transformation Fund, which aims to modernise the UK’s automotive supply chain and ensure its competitiveness in the global market, also helped make up this figure.
Halewood's role in Ford's European EV strategy
The Halewood Plant, which had traditionally produced transmissions for internal combustion engine vehicles, was set to focus on the assembly of Ford’s electric vehicle power units.
This marked a significant operational shift for the plant, which received an initial investment of £230 million (US$289.1m) in 2023 that was expected to drive 250,000 power units annually by 2024.
Following the announcement, Halewood’s capacity was increased to 420,000 units per year, a 70% rise, further cementing its role in Ford’s European EV strategy.
By 2026, Ford plans to sell 600,000 electric vehicles annually in Europe, with 70% of these vehicles powered by the technology produced at Halewood.
Thanks to the investment the company is making progress on this objective, and its ambition to achieve a global annual EV production of two million vehicles by 2026.
“Ford is a global American brand, woven into the fabric of Europe for more than 100 years and a major employer here at Halewood for almost 60 years," adds Kieran Cahill, Ford’s European Industrial Operations Vice President.
“Our vision in Europe is to build a thriving business, by extending leadership in commercial vehicles and through the electrification of our car range.
"Halewood is playing a critical part as our first in-house investment in EV component manufacturing in Europe.”
Upskilling employees and preparing for the electric future
A vital aspect of making the investment and shift in the facility's focus a success was upskilling employees.
The investment helped protect 500 jobs at Halewood, and apprentices and engineers involved in the development of the electric power units were taken to work closely with Ford's E:PriME centre in Essex to test and build prototypes.
This collaboration ensured that the knowledge and expertise gained from the centre was transferred back to Halewood as part of its transformation into an electric power unit manufacturing facility.
In addition to supporting the production of electric power units, Ford has also sought to increase carbon neutrality across its European operations.
The automotive giant seeks to reach total carbon neutrality for in Europe by 2035, with increasing the use of renewables at Halewood a critical aspect of this.
To accomplish this Ford has installed solar panels at the plant which generate up to 1,782 MWh of energy, has replaced diesel-powered locomotives with electric ones and has installed electric vehicle charging points for employees.
Ford’s overall goal is to build a profitable business in Europe centred around the electrification of its vehicle portfolio, targeting carbon neutrality across all of its European facilities, logistics, and suppliers.
The Halewood Plan't successful transition to electric component production is a critical part of this goal, and has been possible due to the company's investment in technology and upskilling its employees.
Ford ensured it already had a foundation of EV research, knowledge and innovation that employees could draw from to transition successfully to Halewood's new focus.
Electrification will require the large scale transformation and augmentation of existing factories and workflows.
Its success across manufacturing sectors depends upon your investment in technology and training, as is evident here with Ford.
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