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Ford is losing two of its most experienced leadership team members in Germany. The long-time leaders are leaving their roles as Ford continues restructuring its business overseas.

Ford downsizes leadership in Germany again

In June, Ford lost its top European executive, Martin Sander, who left to join Volkswagen. The position was eliminated as part of Ford’s plans to reduce headcount in the region.

Starting July 1, 2024, the company had four managing directors, down from the previous nine. Ford said the changes were part of a broader transformation of its European business.

Kieran Cahill, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Ford-Werke GmbH, said the downsizing “simplifies” its management structure. It also “gives us more speed of action,” Cahill explained as Ford looks to revamp the brand.

Starting this month, Ford is losing another two managing directors. According to the German media outlet Automobilwoche, Ford will have just two directors: Dave Johnston and Marcus Wassenberg, both of whom were appointed in July.

Ford-leadership-Germany
Ford Explorer EV production in Cologne (Source: Ford)

Meanwhile, Christian Weingärtner and Rene Wolf resigned on November 1, 2024, but will continue to work for the company operationally.

The restructuring comes after Ford began delivering its new Capri EV last month. The Capri is Ford’s second electric model based on Volkswagen’s MEB platform, following the Electric Explorer.

Ford's-new-Capri-EV
Ford’s new all-electric Capri EV (Source: Ford)

Ford began building the all-electric Explorer at its new Cologne EV center in Germany this summer.

The new Capri EV starts at $48,800 (€44,950) in Germany, slightly less than the electric Explorer, which costs about $52,700 (€48,500).

Range
(WLTP)		 Starting Price
(Germany)
Ford Capri EV (RWD) 390 miles (627 km) $48,800 (€44,950)
Ford Capri EV Premium (AWD) 368 miles (592 km) $52,300 (€48,650)
Ford Capri EV price and range by trim

In the US, Ford will stop building its F-150 Lightning electric truck for nearly two months. Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch said in an email to Electrek, “We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability.”

The first day down at its Rouge EV Center in Michigan will be November 18, with production resuming on January 6, 2025. The pause includes the holiday break week, starting December 23, at all US Ford plants.

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Environment

Podcast: EV/Solar killing bill moves forward, Elon lies about Tesla’s demand, cheaper EVs, and more

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2 hours ago

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May 23, 2025

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Podcast: EV/Solar killing bill moves forward, Elon lies about Tesla's demand, cheaper EVs, and more

electrek podcast

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the EV/Solar killing bill moving forward, Elon lying about Tesla’s demand, cheaper EVs coming, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

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We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET)

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Environment

Circle K just opened a new spot exclusively for EV charging with no gas pumps in sight

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4 hours ago

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May 23, 2025

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Circle K just opened a new spot exclusively for EV charging with no gas pumps in sight

Circle-K-EV-Charging

This is what the future of travel will look like. Circle K opened its first location exclusively for EV charging in Europe. The site features ten ultra-fast EV chargers and a convenience store while you wait.

Circle K opens first EV charging-only site in Europe

The new EV charging hub is located in Gårda, near Gothenburg, Sweden. It’s Circle K’s largest EV charging-only location with ten 400 kW chargers that can recharge from 0 to 80% in around 15 minutes.

Kempower supplied two 600 kW Power Units and ten Single Satellite chargers that can deliver up to 400 kW of power.

With an improved version of Kempower’s Autocharge feature, the system can store your information so that the next time you visit, all you have to do is plug in. The system will recognize your vehicle and bill you automatically.

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While you wait, there’s a 1,076 ft² (100 m²) convenience store that offers “a complete retail experience,” offering food, drinks, Wi-Fi, and plenty of seating.

The site expects heavy traffic on Sweden’s E6, with over 10,000 vehicles travelling on the motorway daily.

Circle-K-EV-Charging
Circle K opens its first EV charging-only site in Europe (Source: Kempower)

The new EV charging-only site comes after Circle K opened its largest EV charging hub in Sweden. Located just southwest of Stockholm, the flagship location has 26 fast chargers that can be used with light and heavy-duty vehicles.

Circle K now has over 3,000 branded chargers across Europe and will continue adding to its network as demand for EV charging rises.

Circle-K-EV-charging
Circle K’s largest electric vehicle charging hub in Sweden (Source: Circle K)

With around 17,000 locations globally, the company said it’s “uniquely positioned” to support the transition to electric vehicles.

Will we see Circle K open a location exclusively for EVs in the US? As more electric cars hit the road, more charging options will be needed. A few convenience stores, including 7-Eleven, are already rolling out fast chargers. Through 7Charge, 7-Eleven aims to build “one of the largest and most compatible” EV fast charging networks of any retailer in North America.

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Environment

Trump signs orders to overhaul Nuclear Regulatory Commission, speed reactor deployment

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4 hours ago

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May 23, 2025

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Trump signs orders to overhaul Nuclear Regulatory Commission, speed reactor deployment

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2025.

Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday to overhaul the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and speed the deployment of new nuclear power reactors in the U.S.

The NRC is a 50-year-old, independent agency that regulates the nation’s fleet of nuclear reactors. Trump’s orders call for a “total and complete reform” of the agency, a senior White House official told reporters in a briefing. Under the new rules, the commission will be forced to decide on nuclear reactor licenses within 18 months.

Trump said Friday the orders focus on small, advanced reactors that are viewed by many in the industry as the future. But the president also said his administration supports building large plants.

“We’re also talking about the big plants — the very, very big, the biggest,” Trump said. “We’re going to be doing them also.”

Nuclear executives joined Trump for the signing ceremony, including Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez. Constellation is the largest operator of nuclear plants in the U.S. Nuclear stocks rallied Friday in response to the president’s actions.

NRC overhaul

When asked whether NRC reform will result in staff reductions, the White House official said “there will be turnover and changes in roles.”

“Total reduction in staff is undetermined at this point, but the executive orders do call for a substantial reorganization” of the agency, the official said. The orders, however, will not remove or replace any of the five commissioners who lead the body, according to the White House.

Any reduction in staff at the NRC would come at time when the commission faces a heavy workload. The agency is currently reviewing whether two mothballed nuclear plants, Palisades in Michigan and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, should restart operations, a historic and unprecedented process.

U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Joseph Dominguez, President and Chief Executive Officer of Constellation, speaks in the Oval Office on the day Trump is expected to sign executive orders, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 23, 2025.

Kent Nishimura | Reuters

Dominguez said the nuclear industry’s biggest problem has been regulatory delay. Constellation is aiming to bring the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island back online in 2028 after it closed for economic reasons. A separate reactor, Unit 2, was the site of a partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979.

“We’re wasting too much time on permitting and we’re answering silly questions, not the important ones,” the Constellation CEO said.

Trump’s orders also create a regulatory framework for the Departments of Energy and Defense to build nuclear reactors on federal land, the administration official said.

“This allows for safe and reliable nuclear energy to power and operate critical defense facilities and AI data centers,” the official told reporters. The NRC will not have a direct role, as the departments will use separate authorities under their control to authorize reactor construction for national security purposes, the official said.

Boost uranium mining

The president’s orders also aim to jump start the mining of uranium in the U.S. and expand domestic uranium enrichment capacity, the official said. Trump’s actions also aim to speed up reactor testing at the Department of Energy’s national laboratories.

Investment in nuclear power is growing in the U.S. after a long period of financial turmoil for the industry, including the shutdown of a dozen reactors in recent years as the industry struggled to compete against cheap and abundant natural gas.

The cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

Building new nuclear plants in the U.S. is notoriously slow and expensive. The two new reactors that recently came online at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia took seven years longer-than-planned to build, and came in $18 billion over budget.

But the computer technology industry is now driving the revival in nuclear as it races to meet growing electricity demand from data centers used to drive artificial intelligence. Three Mile Island is expected to return to service with financial support from Microsoft, for example, and Alphabet and Amazon are investing in small, advanced reactors.

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