NEW YORK, May 26 — Ford said today it is ramping up investment in zero-emission cars and by 2030 expects 40 per cent of its vehicle volume to be comprised of fully electric vehicles.

The US automaker announced it is increasing its investment in electrification to more than US$30 billion (RM124 billion) by 2025, boosting the amount from the US$22 billion announced in February.

The company last week unveiled an all-electric version of its bestselling F-150 truck in an eco-friendly reinvention of a flagship American car brand, and said it has received 70,000 reservations from customers in just one week.

"This is our biggest opportunity for growth and value creation since Henry Ford started to scale the Model T, and we’re grabbing it with both hands,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.

Farley and other executives will be presenting the latest developments later Wednesday morning in a virtual meeting with financial analysts and other stakeholders.

Besides the battery-powered F-150, called the Lightning, Ford has begun selling the electric Mustang Mach-E sport utility vehicle and will soon bring the E-Transit cargo van to showrooms.

The company also is investing in battery production, and recently announced a joint venture with South Korea’s SK Innovation.

Automakers have joined the growing move towards zero-emission vehicles to help address global warming.

General Motors, Ford’s main competitor in the US market, pledged in January to stop making diesel- or gasoline-powered cars by 2035. — AFP