We've known about the collaboration between automotive giants Ford and Volkswagen for some time. Last year, it was reported that the companies will join forces to build no less than eight million trucks together. But it's not only trucks that the two companies will share expertise on.

The latest is that Ford is getting close to officially licensing EV technology from Volkswagen. This tech will be used to develop a second Ford EV that will be sold in the European market. Of course, Ford already sells the fantastic Mustang Mach-E crossover in Europe. According to Automotive News Europe, a final agreement could be reached in the next couple of weeks for Ford to utilize Volkswagen's MEB platform.

MEB underpins numerous EVs from the VW Group's stable including the ID.4 crossover, ID.3 hatchback, and the new Audi Q4 e-tron. MEB vehicles that have been reviewed have consistently exhibited well-balanced dynamics and strong crash-safety results.

"As we have said previously, there is the potential for a second all-electric vehicle based on the MEB platform to be built at Cologne, and that is still under consideration," said Ford of Europe.

Using VW's platform has benefits for both companies. For Ford, it means drastically reducing development costs for future EVs while potentially being able to introduce these vehicles to the market quicker.

Not much more is known about the Ford EV using MEB other than that it is anticipated to be launched in 2023.

However, the use of MEB doesn't mean that the Mustang Mach-E's dedicated Global Electrified 1 (GE1) platform won't be used in more vehicles. Late last year, it was reported that another Ford EV using GE1 will be built at the company's Mexico facility, which is where the Mach-E is built. If either of the new GE1- or MEB-based Ford EVs are as good as the Mach-E, as well as the many accomplished MEB-based cars, we have a lot to look forward to.