It seems Ford didn’t want to stay home from the EV dance.
Just 10 days after Ford Motor Company electrification guru Kevin Layden said that 100 miles of range is just plenty, thank you very much, CEO Mark Fields is now saying something very different.
According to Automotive News, Fields was asked about his competitors’ plans for 200-plus mile electric vehicles during a conference call related to his company’s boffo first-quarter earnings, and replied that such a vehicle was in development.
Tesla and General Motors are currently the biggest players in the game. Chevrolet plans to have its 200-plus mile Bolt in production this fall, with Tesla following a year later with its Model 3. Despite what Layden said, Ford clearly wants to be a competitor.
In response to the 200-mile EV question, Fields replied, “Clearly that’s something we’re developing for,” adding that he wants Ford to be “among the leaders or in a leadership position” when it came to battery-powered vehicles.
Last year, Fields funneled $4.5 billion towards vehicle electrification, including the development of a hybrid F-150 (due by decade’s end).
The automaker is currently attempting to trademark the “Model E” name. Unless the company is trying to resurrect the Edsel, this model would have to be a fully electric vehicle.
Automotive News states that the Model E will go into production at a newly built Mexico assembly plant in 2019, one year after Tesla’s baby EV (but likely not before all 400,000 preorders are delivered).
200 miles should be the minimum.
People can debate me all they want:
Ford needs an EV version of the Fusion since it’s a spacious 4-door, and they’d need the same in an SUV the size of an Edge.
Same goes for GM:
An EV malibu and Equinox.
Same goes for Chrysler.
An EV Charger (Charger lol)
An EV Cherokee or Grand Cherokee and a minivan.
EV is coming, yep.
But I think it should be a pure EV, not a bastardized ICE vehicle.
The beauty of EV, you can tell CAFE to go and screw itself. I think CAFE is screwing up cars and trucks nowadays. Tesla might go after Ford by actually building a small truck… The very kind that CAFE killed off…
The best way to avoid the horrors of CAFE and the EPA is to build an EV. All of the waste testing ICE engines to make sure it passes emissions… A waste of money. Just build a pure EV and forget about the EPA (other than interior emissions from plastics). Ford ought to get going on this, its behind Tesla and even GM.
Pure EV will still get hit with gas taxes.
The real problem is Republican and Democrat political THIEVES.
We need to make America great again.
This will be good: Explain how exactly it is that a vehicle that uses no gas whatsoever will be hit by a tax on gas?
And then, please explain how rescinding a nonexistent gas tax on electric vehicles will make America great again.
How exactly is the electricity being generated?
Even without a gas tax of some sort- they’ll get hit with a usage tax to pay highway funds.
Of course they should still pay for the highways they travel on. Either tolls or vehicle registration fees should be increased to take care of that, especially since fuel-efficent vehicles of the same weight still affect roads just as much as a gas guzzler, but pay less for the same stretch of road.
Ironically if this moves to vehicle registration, tolls, or what not, this will further reduce the cost of gasoline. :)
Further reducing gasoline costs will be appreciated by HELLCAT and JEEP alike.
Honestly, I don’t mind seeing everyone else in little hybrid econoboxes.
Just keep them damn government hands off my SRT.
BTSR I distinctly remember you years ago lampooning the Volt as the Obama car and referring to GM as gov’t motors. You also used to state ad nauseum that EV’s were somehow worse for the environment, yada yada the liberal agenda blah blah blah, rare earth minerals zzzzzz. All very entertaining.
Now you’re the expert on electric cars. And we should listen to you because … ?
He’s thinking: curse your attention to the facts!
No 28CL, he’s not thinking at all. Facts are not his forte.
Whether you listen or not, my presence is a FACT.
I’m going to Make America Great Again.
Four years ago, 80 miles was the limit. Next year, it’ll be 200 miles. You can see the trend here – in a decade battery technology will have advanced sufficiently for electric vehicles to be mainstream.
Next generation battery technology is always 4 years away.
Look at how much the LEAF has improved in five years. The range has improved by at least a third and the price has declined.
The Bolt should be out this fall.
I’m not sure when my getting my Model 3, though. At least 18 months. Probably much sooner than 4 years.
VoGo: “Four years ago…”
The cost has declined faster than expected, which is good. But bulk and weight are not on the same trajectory. Unless there’s some very interesting breakthrough, near-term, in the chemistry or physics, an EV’s “fuel container” will remain very large and very heavy.
That hybrid F-150 excites me.
I think it will be rear wheel drive with electric motors driving the front wheels.
This way, you get AWD with good efficiency and more reliablity. No more 4×4 transfer case failures!
Toyota is already doing it with the RAV4 now. For the RAV4 it’s front wheel drive with electric motors driving the rear wheels.
Take a look underneath trucks nowadays… Tons of wasted space underneath, especially underneath the bed. Plenty of space for a battery there…
Also by decoupling them, you get much better control over how to apply torque.
“Clearly that’s something we’re developing for…”
No, that wasn’t clear. And it still isn’t clear what you’re doing.
Backpedaling and obfuscation are always accompanied by the word ‘clearly’.
consider that the original quote from last week was talking about a particular vehicle. the way I read it, he was talking specifically about the Focus.
but we live in the internet age where being “First” is far more important than being “correct,” so here we are.
Quite the polarity reversal…
They’ll build a 150-mile range EV, but an auxiliary battery (which takes up half of the cargo space) will be an option to get the 200 miles.
I keed, I keed – go for it, Ford!
Not unlike the C-Max Energi, but with 10x the range
In theory, any future EV/plug-in should be as compromised as the C-Max Energi. That thing was never meant to be a plug-in, but Wayne needed to build green cars and gas was expensive. Future platforms will be hybrid/plug-in/EV ready from the start. Heck, the F150 is.
C-Max range is over 400 miles, isn’t it? With extremely rapid refueling, too.
It’s not like Ford is behind in the alt fuel race. Aside from Toyota, Ford has the broadest lineup of any automaker withe the Focus Electric, Fusion Hybrid and Energi, C-Max Hybrid and Energi, and the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. I am sure that their next generation platforms will fully support Hybrid and EV tech.
They’ve been doing plug-in and hybrid tech well, but they are behind on the EV game. Their only full EV is a Focus with a drivetrain designed and built by Magna International. Others are definitely ahead. The good news is that Ford can leverage their work on hybrids to catch up.
At least they aren’t sinking their alternative fuel R&D funding into freaking hydrogen fuel cell technology like Toyota is…
That’s true. I think it’s fair to say that GM, of all the major manufacturers, has the lead in EV development.
ARgghhhh. Hydrogen fuel cell technology. My pet peeve of the EV world. Leave aside the significant development issues of just producing/storing/distributing the hydrogen itself and you see it’s the ultimate in “Hey, look over there!” obfuscation.
Prime example, when GM announced that they were going to stop building EVs to focus on Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The problem is the only difference between a battery EV and HFC is how the car carries its electrons.
Ninety per cent of knowing how to build an EV is knowing how to build a V and Ford is as good at that as GM.
None of the major manufacturers are significantly behind at this point, although GM may have some mindshare over Ford – but not over Tesla.
Hyundai has announced 200-mile range too. I think they’re aiming for 2018.
I have to think that at today’s level of battery technology, an 200 mile EV has to be a dedicated design. I wouldn’t think there would be enough space in a car that is currently powered by an internal combustion engine.
Yes but you can use an existing chassis or platform like the bolt.
I agree, dedicated design is the way to go. The Model S has impressive utility, considering the footprint of the vehicle.
Imagine wasting money trying to trademark the letter ‘E’. “You can’t use the letter ‘E’ that’s a Ford trademark. Also we are getting the number ‘1.5’ and maybe some others. And don’t think you can call a car the “Model L” Ho Ho Ho. Ford’s got a whole team of lawyers after that letter too. Happy Noel to you all.