Ford's VW-based EV will be a utility vehicle, report says

Ford will use Volkswagen Group's MEB electric-car platform to underpin a utility vehicle, Autocar magazine reported.

The model is likely to have a similar wheelbase to the VW ID4 compact crossover at 2765 mm (9 feet), Autocar said.

The magazine said the Ford version likely will offer output between 146 hp and 201 hp.

Ford and VW announced an industrial cooperation in 2019 for commercial vans and midsize pickups that was subsequently expanded to autonomous and electric vehicles.

Ford's MEB-based EV is being designed and engineered at the automaker's European development center in Merkenich, near Cologne, Germany. The car is expected to go on sale in 2023.

The model will be built at Ford's factory in Cologne, which is currently undergoing a $1 billion refit to become the brand's EV hub. Ford has said its passenger car range in Europe will be all-electric by 2030.

Ford has confirmed that it will build an MEB-based electric car in Cologne but has not said what type of vehicle it will be. The company did not immediately request for a comment on the Autocar report.

Ford has said it expects to deliver over 600,000 MEB-based vehicles in Europe over a six-year period starting in 2023 including a second MEB-based model.

Autocar published spy shots of the Ford EV. The magazine described the vehicle as an "upright, two-box silhouette [which] hints at a similar market positioning to the Volkswagen ID4."

It said the Ford model would likely replace the ID4's smooth, curved panels with more defined surfaces with added intakes, feature lines and inserts.

The model appears to appears to have a different design fro Ford's combustion models and its Mustang Mach-E electric car

Ford is expected to release details on the EV closer to its production date.