BRITAIN'S top-selling car is going electric with Ford unveiling the Puma Gen-E as the auto maker opened its EV powertrain factory at Halewood.

Following a £380 million investment - including £30.9 million of governmental support via the Automotive Transformation Fund - Halewood has been transformed from a traditionaltransmissions facility into a state-of-the-art electric vehicle component manufacturing plant.

The Halewood facility on Merseyside now has the capacity to produce 420,000 eDrive units annually that will power Ford's electrification goals.

Halewood's production capacity will ensure that 70 per cent of Ford electric vehicles sold in Europe, including models such as the E-Transit Custom, the E-Tourneo Custom and the Puma Gen-E, will be powered by UK-manufactured technology.

Kieran Cahill, Ford's European industrial operations vice-president, said: "Ford is a global American brand with deep roots in Europe, and Halewood has been a cornerstone of that legacy for 60 years. It's not just the state-of-the-art technology or the £380 million transformation that makes Halewood special-it's the incredible team here. Their skill, dedication, and pride are what power our electrification journey.

"With Halewood leading the way as our first in-house EV component manufacturing site in Europe, we're building a thriving future together, with nine electric vehicles on the road in Europe by 2025."

The new all-electric Puma Gen-E was unveiled at the plant by Lisa Brankin, managing director at the Halewood plant.

The electric version of the UK's best-selling car will be powered by the eDrive built at Halewood and assembled at Ford's plant in Craiova in Romania.

Ford says the electric Puma Gen-E re-energises the fun to drive character and evolves the Puma exterior design that have made the compact crossover a hit with customers across Europe.

With the eDrive, the Puma has an efficiency of 13.1kWh/100km and the Puma Gen-E has a range of more than 230 miles on a full charge while up to 320 miles of city range means two days of charge-free urban trips.

This transformation positions Halewood as Ford's first in-house electric vehicle component manufacturing plant in Europe, with units set to be distributed across Europe and assembled at Ford Otosan plants in Romania and Turkey.

In turn, Halewood and Dagenham will continue to support Ford UK's electric transition across its car and van line-up.

Two versions of the Puma EV will be available when the car arrives on the road in March 2025 with prices for Select models starting from £29,995 - some £3,500 more than a petrol model.

Higher specification Premium grade versions cost £2,000 extra.

The GEN-E has large luggage capacity of 523 litres including Ford's extra 145 litre underfloor storage area and a 43 litre frunk under the bonnet.

Performance figures are 0 to 62mph acceleration of 8.0 seconds with a maximum of 99mph.