"For the past few years, its CEO and other executives have taken to podcasts, TV hits, panels and interviews to stress the threat that electric-vehicle upstarts like Tesla, and the whole Chinese auto industry, present to the future of its business. Their message has been clear: if Ford loses out to China Inc.'s ability to make great, affordable EVs, "we do not have a future [at] Ford," as CEO Jim Farley put it."
"The Dearborn-based carmaker is ending production of the current electric Ford F-150 Lightning, canceling plans to make another one, building a gas engine-equipped range-extender version of the next Lightning instead, killing plans for an electric commercial van, and even renaming its Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center factory to be the Tennessee Truck Plant. Ford said that EV sales and demand didn't match its projections, and that its current crop of models is not built to be profitable, so it has to retrench."
"But Ford officials are adamant that the electric future now rests on a skunkworks project that aims to make affordable EVs in America, starting with a $30,000 pickup truck. More variants will follow, all with excellent range and entry-level prices, Ford claims. "We are focusing our EV development on our new low-cost, Universal Electric Vehicle platform," Ford executive Andrew Frick said on a call with reporters yesterday."
Ford created a Silicon Valley-style skunkworks to escape Detroit inertia and radically accelerate electric-vehicle development. Legacy EVs built on modified gasoline platforms underperformed and proved unprofitable, prompting production cuts and canceled models, including the current F-150 Lightning and an electric commercial van. Ford plans a gas range-extender variant for the next truck while pivoting investment to a bespoke, low-cost Universal Electric Vehicle platform aimed at delivering a $30,000 pickup and multiple variants with strong range and entry-level pricing. The strategy commits to Tesla-like manufacturing but faces high stakes from policy shifts, slow timelines, and faster-moving Chinese rivals and Tesla.
Read at insideevs.com
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