Ford to invest $4.5 billion more in electric car plan by 2020

Dearborn: Ford Motor Co plans to invest an additional $4.5 billion by 2020 in programs to broaden its offerings of hybrids and electric vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields said Thursday.

Fields said it will launch late next year a new version of its Ford Focus electric car that has a 100-mile range and can recharge in 30 minutes.

Ford also plans to add 13 new plug-in hybrid, hybrid or electric vehicles to its lineup by 2020, moving to more than 40 percent the share of the company`s vehicle lines that will be electrified.

Fields said the company sees plug-in hybrid systems - which allow drivers to operate part of the time on batteries recharged from the grid, and part of the time on gasoline - as the solution many customers will prefer. The batteries for plug-in hybrids are not as heavy or expensive as those required to deliver 200-mile or more range in an all-electric vehicle.