Ford backtracks on BEV commitments in Europe and may sell ICE models beyond 2030
Ford Europe is reportedly flirting with the idea of adjusting its electrification strategy in the region as BEV sales have been slow to take off. Originally, the European arm of Ford Motor Company said it would only sell battery-electric models by 2030, but that commitment could soon change.
Ford Europe has followed the lead of its American counterpart in making public commitments to electrification while simultaneously investing big bucks into the transition toward BEV production overseas.
The automaker has already completed a $2 billion investment to convert its Cologne, Germany, facility into a BEV production hub. That location will be home to the production of the all-electric Ford Explorer this summer, as well as a second all-electric model based on Volkswagen’s MEB architecture.
In addition to the Explorer, Ford currently sells the Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit van in Europe—a mere start in transitioning into a BEV-only brand by 2030. Ford made that promise in 2021 as an ambitious goal, nixing combustion vehicle sales five years before the European Union voted to ban them.
With limited models in its current portfolio and a growing number of BEV competition in Europe amidst softer than anticipated demand, Ford’s head of passenger cars hinted that there might be room for ICE vehicle sales beyond 2030 after all. It all depends on the consumer.
Ford Europe sees trajectory to BEVs but monitors demand
Per Automotive News Europe, Ford Europe’s head of passenger cars, Martin Sander, relayed hope for the automaker to stick to its 2030 BEV targets but is definitely keeping a foot in the door for combustion vehicle sales to continue if necessary.
The automaker has cited a less-than-stellar demand for its BEVs in Europe as the reason behind the possible revised strategy, resulting in missed targets. As a result, Sander said combustion vehicles, particularly plug-ins, could still be in play beyond 2030:
If we see strong demand, for instance for plug-in hybrid vehicles, we will offer them.
During the Financial Times Future of the Car summit on Tuesday, Sander still relayed optimism for BEV adoption, sharing that there is still a clear trajectory to electrification:
We just have to manage our way towards 100 percent electric drivetrains.
In Europe, Ford continues to lean down and discontinue production of certain combustion models, like the Fiesta for example, while simultaneously beefing up passenger and commercial EV production. In addition to the MEB EV coming out of Cologne, Ford Europe will also launch the all-electric Puma Gen-E whose combustion version is currently built in Romania. Sander also told the media that Ford Europe has plans for its facility in Valencia, Spain, but didn’t share any other details.
So Ford Europe isn’t abandoning its 2030 BEV goals just yet, but the markets will need to improve to justify abandoning combustion vehicles altogether for good. Fingers crossed!
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Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.
According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.
“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.
The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.
The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.
Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.
And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.
The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.
Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.
That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.
The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.
Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.
The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.
Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.
In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.
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