The first construction work is now underway to transform the Ford assembly plant in Niehl into a new Cologne Electrification Center.
Development managers demolished a disused plant building to make way for the new high-tech building, which will be used to prepare the bodies for the assembly of a new, all-electric mass-production model. The redesign of the Niehl plant is an important step that will help Ford realize its plans for an all-electric future. The Cologne Electrification Center will use the latest car manufacturing technologies and will be ready to enter production in 2023.
This is a challenging project, as the architects will have to build a 26 m long, 25 m wide and 100 m long facility in a densely populated area with buildings where vehicles have been assembled since 1931. The new building will extend one of the main traffic routes to the Niehl facility. The demolition of the disused building was planned during the summer closure of the Niehl plant in order to remove 5,000 m3 not impede current vehicle production. The new building will be completed by the end of July 2022, followed by the installation of machinery.
"I am excited to see that we have started the transformation of our plant to create the Cologne Electrification Center," said Gunnar Herrmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Ford-Werke GmbH, at a local meeting. "This is a major milestone for our production network in Germany and will make us the first Ford plant in Europe to independently manufacture mass-produced pure electric vehicles."
