According to a report published by Drive, the Ford Puma will become a 100% electric model between 2024 and 2025. Since it is one of the manufacturer’s most important models in Europe, it will play a key role in its plans to have a fully electric range from 2030.
Unlike the current Mustang Mach-E or the models co-developed with Volkswagen, the electric Puma will not sit on a dedicated platform, but will instead reuse the current model’s B2E. In addition, it will be twinned with the new generation Courier van, whose electric version will be launched in 2024 (the thermal engines will arrive a year earlier).
This news was already confirmed in 2019 by a Ford Europe executive. “ We have plans to [develop] electric vehicles on the Puma [platform]. Stay tuned, we’re working on it [an electric Puma];, along with a sister model, a commercial model, called the V769, the successor to the Courier being developed by Ford’s design team, which is also desperately asking for an electric version. The platform is ready for it.
The report indicates that the new electric Puma has the same internal code as the current thermal Puma, which tells us that at a structural level the new generation will start from its predecessor, a strategy that Ford has been implementing in many of its models for years (for example, the Fiesta Mk2 was a deep restyling of the Mk1, the Mk8 of the Mk7, etc).
The electric Ford Puma will be the brother of the Courier van
On a mechanical level, Puma and Courier will be identical, which will reduce development costs (although it is not clear if the SUV, like the van, will continue to be available with thermal engines). However, they will not share a production line: while the Puma will be manufactured in Craiova (Romania), the Courier will be assembled in Kocaeli (Turkey).
At the moment the technical specifications of the vehicle are unknown, although it is very likely that Ford will take advantage of the experience accumulated with the E-Transit, F-150 Lightning, and Mustang Mach-E to launch a competitive product. However, it is unlikely to benefit from joint developments with Volkswagen.
