Ford announces the first Lincoln electric car – La Gazzetta dello Sport

All confirmed, only the official was missing: the substantial 500 million Ford investment in Rivian, dated April 2019, will lead to the creation of a new electric car based on the “skateboard” platform that Rivian is using to build the R1T electric pickup and the Electric SUV R1S. And once again as expected, this electric car will be Lincoln-branded. “Working with Rivian marks a crucial point for Lincoln as we move towards a future that includes fully electric vehicles,” said Joy Falotico, president of Lincoln Motor Company. This vehicle will almost certainly be an SUV.

ELECTRIC SUV

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In recent years Ford has attempted to relaunch the Lincoln brand by launching or updating five models of SUVs and crossovers: Corsair, Navigator, Aviator, Nautilus and MKC. The move has allowed Lincoln to increase sales of its high-wheeled vehicles by 7% and it is very likely that the brand’s first electric car will also be a Sport Utility.

PLATFORM

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The platform on which this model will be born, that of Rivian, is designed specifically for electric SUVs. The dimensions are generous, to accommodate high capacity batteries (up to 180 kWh) which are positioned on the bottom of the platform. The air suspensions are independent and the electric motors are four. Rivian declares a maximum power of 200 horsepower per wheel, therefore up to 800 in total in the configuration with the engines on both axles and with all-wheel drive. Naturally Lincoln will develop his first electric car starting from this base, but declining it for the luxury customer.

FORD STRATEGY

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This new electric vehicle from Lincoln is part of the electrification strategy of the Ford range, which has already presented a first electric SUV, the Mustang Mach-E, and which is preparing the electric version of America’s best-selling pickup: the F- 150. Ford plans total investments of 11.5 billion dollars to bring the new electric and hybrid range to the road. While Lincoln adds a new luxury electric vehicle to its range, production of the Mkz sedan will end this year to allow the assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico to prepare for the production of new Ford vehicles. Part of that $ 11.5 billion will therefore convert the Mexican factory. However, given that Lincoln’s new electric will have to leave the Mexican factory, it will not come to the market anytime soon.

ELECTRICAL PARTNERS

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The confirmation of the new Ford electric model on a Rivian base does nothing but reiterate what was clear for several months now: the American company is trying to recover the technological gap in the EV segment thanks to collaborations and sharing platforms. If the large electric cars are built on the Rivian platform, in fact, the medium and small ones dedicated to the European market will be born on the Volkswagen Meb platform: the agreement currently includes 600 thousand Ford electric vehicles on a Meb basis to be built in six years. The Mach-E, on the other hand, will be built on a proprietary platform: the Global Electrified 1 (GE1), which is nothing if the C2 platform (that of Focus and Kuga, to understand us) heavily reworked. The blue oval house denied the possibility of building a Mustang Suv baby on a Meb basis.

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