Prepare Yourself for the Electric Mustang

By Matthew McMullan
Jan 03 2017 |
Photo by Falcon Photography

That’s not a new rollercoaster; it’s a car Ford plans to release in 2020.

Ford Motor Co. announced on Tuesday it was canceling a $1.6 billion investment in a production facility in Mexico – and instead vesting $700 million into an existing facility in Flat Rock, Michigan. The company says that will create 700 stateside jobs.  

Our president-elect, who campaigned on going after Ford if it opened a new plant in Mexico, is taking credit for this development, and Ford executives are giving him measured amounts of dap for it – all of it based on the incoming Trump administration’s tax and regulatory plans:

(Ford CEO Mark) Fields also endorsed "pro growth" tax and regulatory policies advocated by Trump and the Republican-led Congress. "This is a vote of confidence for President-Elect Trump and some of the policies he may be pursuing," Fields said.

It’s all well and good, because look, man: Jobs are jobs. We’ll let the CEOs sort out who is the most responsible for this good news. But let’s not bury the lead any longer, because Ford has made a big electric vehicle announcement:  

While the cancellation of the Mexican project is sure to attract the most attention in Washington, Ford's bigger announcement on Tuesday might be its commitment to introducing a hybrid version of its top-selling F-150 pickup by 2020 for sale in North America and the Middle East. The automaker also plans a hybrid version of its Mustang muscle car, to be built at Flat Rock, to debut in 2020.

The F-150 and Mustang are among seven electrified vehicles that Ford will be selling by 2021. And five of them will be manufactured in the United States.

That's right: Ford is gonna be selling Michigan-made electric Mustangs by 2020. This is some Jetsons-level stuff.