- The carmaker to invest 30 billion USD on electrification

- Fordand SK Innovation form a joint venture - Blue Oval

Ford has laid a plan to accelerate electric vehicle development. The strategy includes a joint venture, named Blue Oval with SK Innovation which will focus on manufacturing battery cells and an array of EV equipment for Ford and Lincoln vehicles. The car manufacturer aims to spend 30 billion USD on electric vehicles, especially on battery advancement.

The company has lately organised a Capital Markets Day event. On this occasion, the American carmaker announced a new strategy, titled Ford+. With this new approach, the carmaker promises to emphasise “always-on” customer-centric services and provide advanced universal connected car technology in its cars.

Besides, Ford introduced a new lithium-ion battery series, called IonBoost. The IonBoost battery series will have two variants - IonBoost lithium-ion and IonBoost Pro lithium-iron Phosphate. Ford also said that it is working on a “unique cell with special chemistry and Ford’s own battery control algorithm” that it will use in trucks and SUVs. Meanwhile, under the electrification strategy, Ford intends to have a 40 percent share of electric vehicles globally by 2030.

CEO Jim Farley said that we are investing in solid-state battery research and development. “We believe production feasible solid-state batteries are within reach in this decade, delivering better range and lower cost for our customers.” He added.

Moreover, the company also presented Blue Oval Intelligence - a modern and cloud-based platform for the infotainment system and connected services across all Ford and Lincoln products. Ford expects to have over 1 million vehicles on road fitted with this piece of technology which will receive software over-the-air updates too. It also aims to equip 33 million cars with the latest Blue Oval Intelligence by 2028.

Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning are examples of Blue Oval Intelligence. There is an enormous 15.5-inch vertical touchscreen that supports Apple CarPlay and a host of Google applications. It has an Alexa voice assistant built-in too. A smartphone app also enables remote operations via Blue Oval Intelligence.