Over the past few years, Ford has invested heavily in EVs, and all signs pointed to that being a solid business move. In fact, many studies have shown that most – if not a large portion – of Americans have thought about purchasing an all-electric vehicle in the past, with many of them considering a Blue Oval model. However, skyrocketing raw materials prices have since sent the cost of EVs soaring, which has dampened that enthusiasm tremendously. As a result, Ford has since pushed back its goals of producing 600k EVs annually by 2024 and two million by 2026, with both chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley noting that the mere topic of EVs has become politicized – and it isn’t alone, as GM recently scaled back its EV pickup production plans, too. Now, a new poll from Yahoo Finance and Ipsos paints an even grimmer picture.
Even as EV sales continue to grow, this new poll found that many consumers are still concerned about the same things that has kept them from considering an EV for some time now – charging infrastructure, range, and cost chiefly among them. However, the poll – which garnered data from 1,025 Americans in late September and early October – found that 57 percent said they aren’t likely to buy an EV when it comes time to make their next vehicle purchase, compared to the 31 percent that are “likely” to and 11 percent who are undecided.
The news is worse for Ford, specifically, however – when asked which brand of EV they might consider, 30 percent of respondents indicated that Toyota is their top choice for an electric vehicle, followed by Tesla at 23 percent, Honda at 20 percent, GM at 15 percent, and Ford at 14 percent.
“I think there’s a lot of different factors,” Stephanie Valdez-Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, told Yahoo Finance in regard to what’s holding people back from buying an all-electric vehicle. “I think it’s price, it’s infrastructure; I think that range anxiety is really infrastructure anxiety.”
We’ll have more on the future of EVs soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
Baffling that they haven’t prioritized more PHEV options in popular models to help bridge the gap
I agree, give people time to mentally adjust to electric. If in their minds, they know they will not get stranded as the car can run on gasoline also, its more palatable for all the people who are “on the fence” or ambivalent about EV’s. But a major reason I would not consider one is due to the fact that even a minor collision causes many thousands of dollars in damage and/or the car is outright totaled. Insurance companies are reluctant to insure electric cars for this reason. all brands seem to suffer from this issue. This issue is even starting to affect ICE vehicles to a lesser degree. Have you noticed the bumpers on many new cars these days? they are minimal, if not downright unexistent. Mostly its with rear bumpers, (if you can call them that). the bumpers are flush with trunk lid or tailgate. even a minor tap in a parking lot would wipe out the trunk lid and bumper as the bumper and trunk lids are flush. then i saw a car the other day…, I think it was a lexus, the front had no bumper at all. the most forward part of the car was just grille and a plastic one at that. there is nothing whatsoever between any object and the grille if there is even the tiniest of collision. that car could have many thousands of dollars damage in a parking lot bump in Safeway. check out the flimsiness or even if a bumper exists on a potential car your looking at. And with EV’s, they got to make them so a 10 mph fender bender doesn’t total it.
The big banks pushing this all want big battery packs because they’re invested in battery manufacturers. A PHEV doesn’t need a large battery, which means less money for them.
Part of me thinks the automakers aren’t pushing PHEVs is because they know it’s a superior product, and that good PHEVs would torpedo their failing BEV efforts.
Not a surprising turn of attitudes toward EV’s. I agree with Wolfpack, that a hybrid would help bridge the transition. I’m aware that they actually cost more to manufacture than a 100% EV, but it would buy the time necessary to solve to EV infrastructure concerns. I don’t think costs will recede anytime soon, if ever. For that to happen, there would have to be an oversupply and at least some external factor like gas going up to $10 a gallon.
🇬🇧 Here in Europe, that for the purposes includes the UK the Kuga ( Escape) is the best selling plug in hybrid for the second year running.
Future small EVs will be Ford/VW…a product swap between the companies.
Me, not interested in plug ins or total EVs. The whole thing is an environmental con.
For the record most Teslas sold in Europe come from China..throw that into the mix.
A second Me. Just bought a new petrol Kuga, my sixth, others were mostly Gretta’s favourite..diesel.
🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
You didn’t need to waste BILLIONS of dollars to realize this. Just another example of how out of touch these hedge funds/WEF are that demand these companies change course for their agenda. The movie/media industry are finding out now, too. Especially Disney.
Look, there is PLENTY of room to give people various drivetrain options, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing for EVs. Give us EVs, V8s, 6 and 4 cylinders, and hybrids, even hydrogen. Let people decide what is best for themselves and their specific situation. Stop trying to force feed us.
Well said.
The problem is that the EV offer of Ford is uninteresting. No sedan, the Mach-e is not a Mustang and the ranges of their very few EV´s is poor. Compared to its competiton, Ford EV lineup is way behind.
Check out the Yahoo article itself. Most Americans don’t want an EV at all or to have govt ban ICE. It’s not just a Ford thing, people just want options and not be forced into EVs.
I’m not so sure it’s good to trust Yahoo!Finance. Their “survey” comes out to 102%. Even if it’s due to rounding, that means there’s at least a 2% margin of error. Which means pushing that GM beat Ford by 1 point is irresponsible journalism. Could be a roundabout hit at Ford for being a tiny bit friendlier to the UAW union.
The reason why Ford is at the bottom of the EV pack is QUALITY…or lack of. Toyota reliability is best. Why risk buying a new technology product from a company that traditionally has recalls on all new products?
Yes, but Toyota also made it clear in 2021 that the company hates America by repeatedly funding insurrectionists.
Ford, we leased a C-Max Hybrid and loved the 48mpg over 42,000 miles. So we bought a ’21 Escape Hybrid for more room and AWD. You never asked us if we wanted an EV but it’s obvious we like Hybrids. Our next car might be a used Lincoln MKZ Hybrid that you geniuses stopped making. You never built Fusion or MKZ wagons so we bought three Subaru Legacy GT wagons instead, since MY2000.
1,2,3
UNRELIABLE, NO RANGE AND EXPENSIVE
WHO WANTS A PICKUP YOU CAN’T PULL A TRAILER ANYWHERE FARTHER THAT ABOUT 80 MILES. AND IF YOU ARE IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS THEY WON’T GO FAR ENOUGH. COULD’NT MAKE FROM DENVER TO THE EISENHOWER TUNNEL WITHOUT A CHARGE 7% GRADE UPHILL PULLING A TRAILER. LOL!!!
We have the same problem in the United Kingdom, to expensive looks are awful and no longevity in the vehicles , E v s in the U.K. are a rich man’s toy. Why did Ford ever stop building the Ford Fiesta bad business move . I will keep driving my 2011 fiesta , and seriously thinking about buying new old stock fiesta which will last me 20 years , From Ian in the uk
🏴 Both myself and my lady friend have just bought new cars from Bridgend Ford, me a Kuga (Escape) my sixth, Julie one of the last Fiestas, a Titanium X 125. In her case, before they sold out.
With you on the second hand…her’s will be worth a mint in few years time.
I think I’m right in saying on 20% of EV sales in the UK are to private buyers, the rest to companies who get huge tax breaks. 🇬🇧🏴🇬🇧
The fiesta (or my favorite, the festiva) can’t be sold at a profit today. Mostly thanks to the federal regulation that requires nearly unachievable fuel economy ratings for the small, light vehicles most of us remember and would buy, but quite lax mpg targets for large, heavy vehicles, on a scale and with financial penalties.
You’ve got to laugh at how out of touch auto manufacturers are about all of this! Truck owners are the least likely to switch to an EV and EV enthusiasts are the least likely to buy a truck! Toyota is the most popular EV choice, beating Tesla by 7 percentage points, because PHEV’s are a great option in a time of transition when the infrastructure isn’t quite there yet to support widespread adoption, while all other manufacturers play catch-up to Tesla in the the number 2 spot because they have consistently and continue to lead in EV technology. So what does Ford do? They crap all over any plans to develop PHEV’s, puts out an all-electric truck and an SUV crossover (with the Mustang badge) in direct competition with the Tesla Model Y that is smaller, less efficient, offers lower range, an inferior charging network, and is now MORE expensive than the Tesla Model Y (in an apples-to-apples comparison the Ford Mach-E Premium eAWD is $62,495 and the Tesla Model Y Long Range is $54,990 after the recent price drop and the marginally slower Mach-E GT Performance is $13,505 more than the Model Y Performance). Given Tesla’s high margins and lack of all the extra costly externalities of a dealer network, was it even ever a good idea to make that their starting strategy into the EV market?
Forget about the culture war arguments regarding EV’s, I am 100% on the EV train but I know that EV battery tech is improving every year and today’s EV’s are going to be considered outdated technology in 5-10 years, meaning the resale value of today’s EV’s are almost certain to plummet. Large, luxury EV’s with massive batteries absolutely dominate the EV market right now, and I’m not rich by any means, but today’s EV’s are a money pit with unreasonably high energy demand and the fact is that the infrastructure is just not there yet regardless!
I just can’t fathom the logic here… I am an EV advocate but not unconditionally. The Chevy Bolt and Toyota PHEV’s are the only ones making any sense whatsoever at this time in the EV transition.
Slapping the Mustang name on the Mach E was one of the most cardboard corporate decisions I’ve seen in awhile. There must be 4 people in the entire world cross shopping an electric Honda CRV clone and a real Mustang. They pissed off real Mustang owners and fans and attracted NOBODY to the Mach E with the Mustang name.
I bought a Mach-e and the mustang branding feels like it really holds it back. Why take an EV and slap a label that marks it as a lumbering, slow relic of the 60’s? I tried having this conversation with a guy on the road but I couldn’t hear him over the revving and when the light turned green I couldn’t even read his lips in the rear view mirror!
That’s great, Karen. I hope you enjoyed your pumpkin spice latte when you got to Starbucks. Don’t race an ecoboost next time.
Two other issues that I hadn’t even gotten into but was implied throughout for those that were able to catch it: 1) big, heavy inefficient EV’s with huge battery packs are NOT environmentally-friendly, so those who are driving the Ford Lightning get no environmentalist-cred (at best they get about as much cred as those driving small, fuel-efficient ICE cars but the actual practical use-case for something like the Lightning is so infinitesimal that the cred is almost always zeroed out by their douchienous), and 2) Besides the Prius and Rav4 Prime, current plug-in hybrid offerings are crap too.
Ford has their head so far up their own you-know-what that they can’t see that PHEV’s and small, affordable, and efficient EV’s marketed as second around-town vehicles are where it’s at right now for most Americans. Take on the Chevy Bolt and the Toyota Prius and Rav4 Prime. A plugin-hybrid with a fully electric drive train and a range-extending gasoline generator combination that gets as a competitive electric range but can be fueled up in a pinch, put an LFP battery with superior longetivity to lithium-ion, design it so the battery can more easily be exchanged along with other, additional future-proofing assurances, and implement an engine heat recovery system for extra efficiency. That kind of PHEV would have a lower mechanical complexity than other hybrid vehicles while allowing for full-electric driving, would reduce the cost, weight, and range-anxiety experienced with fully-electric vehicles, and would still have a significantly lower environmental impact than ICE vehicles. Then, market it to every type of consumer – those who want a plugin-hybrid or hybrid to begin with, those who want an EV but can’t afford it, those that hesitate to buy an EV because of range-anxiety, and even those who don’t want an EV but may be lured by the excellent fuel efficiency and cost savings in maintenance.
Despite all of that, I did recently purchased a Ford Maverick, but I was upset by Ford’s declaration that not only will there not be a Ford Maverick PHEV in 2024, there are no plans to do so in the future – and even worse – Ford doesn’t even think PHEV’s are worth developing at all! Talk about clueless… I almost dropped my order for the Maverick, but rest assured it is going to get traded-in as soon as a small, PHEV truck with decent towing capacity is released.
I also agree with ProDigit over at the Maverick Chat forum that the hybrid Maverick is configured all wrong and isn’t designed to last past 125k miles, so the sooner I can trade it in… the better. (https://www.maverickchat.com/threads/my-2ct-on-the-maverick-technical-analysis.1036/)
His conclusion? “A PHEV version (with ~10kWh) of this would resolve a lot of issues.” Amen brother.
The reality is governments across Europe and in the US are pushing, shoving, incentivising and hammering ALL auto makers to go EV. Simple. Go EV or die.
We the consumers for the whole part are, excuse the pun, along for the ride.
Manufactures, all, are engineering EVs. Gotta get them into production to offset R&D. It is short sighted to ‘blame’ car companies for responding to the demands of the future. The demands at this point are from many governments, not as much from consumers, at least not in the US.
Unlike Europe that has always had gas prices 2-3 times higher than the US, acceptance may be more palatable.
World wide producers, such as Ford, are things to R&D EVs. The tech is applicable world wide. You see it here in the US because, proud to say, Ford is a US company, based in the US.
Until Americans don’t buy the EVs, and these companies bleed themselves dry.
I am a lifetime Ford owner. We have a ’11 Fusion and a ’93 Bronco. New cars are too expensive if they are electric or gas. My daughter has a Escape hybrid and is very satisfied with it. I think the focus should be on hybrid vehicles before going full tilt into all electric vehicles. The technology and infrastructure is years away from being what it should be.
It’s not just Fords but the entire EV market. Politicians have been selling the false EV narrative for quite a while now BUT the public is finally catching on that the message is all smoke and mirrors.
Looks like most people (with deterioting income gap) don’t have enough money to spend on an EV. That is the fact. High interest rates also spoil the party. Those who have income and the young are mostly after EVs as they are conscious about ever increasing CO, CO2 and NOX on the atmosphere along with tree-cutting (the biggest natural carbon sink).
The industry with exception to Tesla should not have introduced EV’s until they had the range exceeding an ICE. That being 600 plus miles.
This would have helped remove the range anxiety concern.
As for public charging it appears that Tesla has that locked up until other Companies can get their adapters out. Also, every charger should have price for every kw/hr. posted.
There’s 2 reasons the industry introduced EVs.
1) Carbon Credits. Tesla has been propped up by selling carbon credits to other manufacturers. It was truly the EPA handing the billions of dollars from the other automakers. So if the automakers can sell a portion of EVs themselves, they don’t have to buy those carbon credits from Tesla.
2) Investment Banks. They hold enough shares in comparison is to enact leadership changes. So if they tell you to build EVs (be ause they also invested in battery companies), then you do it or you get fired.
I have a 2016 C-Max hybrid. I work as a non-emergency medical ride driver. I get lots of compliments about the roomier interior than the standard Prius. And as far as reliability is concerned, I have 343,000+ miles on it.
Consumers are also discovering that EV’S will have no resale value when battery packs go out of warranty. Agree on more hybrids. They make total sense. EV’s will never be more than 15% of the market until they deliver the same utility for the same value as ICE’s and hybrids
I am only interested in ICE vehicles.
So, Toyota was right. I love my Toyota Hybrid and would be willing to move to a prime if it was offered in the Highlander. I laugh at the latest industry move of saying range anxiety is really infrastructure anxiety.
Why don’t they accept that charging is a PITA and we don’t want to do it every 150 miles. We also don’t want to pay for electric upgrades at home or can’t afford or even have the availability. I see more people buying electric, but they aren’t giving up the ICE as the other car.
Same with my 2015 Chevy VOLT. Small Car but feels like you’re driving a 10 wheeler. Stable, and NEVER GIVES ME TROUBLE. GM can build decent vehicles, but too many idiot managers want to cut corners to get their fat bonuses. Hope they revive an updated VOLTEC system and put it in the Trax, equinox and Traverse. Even VW is developing a PHEV Tiguan.
If tundra hybrid was plug in, I’d be having a long hard look at buying one. It doesn’t do the performance part for me. But it would be a great package overall.
I have three ICE vehicles that will last the rest of my life. Even so I would never buy an EV. When I go anywhere the last thing I want to think about is waiting in line to charge up and then sitting around while this EV charges slowly.
Told ya so! Nobody listens to me 😉
Who wants to spend that money on a limited use vehicle? You can’t use it to tow your RV on vacation. You can’t use it to tow that bass boat on a fishing trip. You can’t really visit a handful of worksites in the same day in it. You can’t really use it for medium to long range hauling. At that point it becomes nothing but a really expensive commuter car with hauling capacity.
That guy who took a trip in the lightning from Winniped to Chicago had to park his truck in Minnesota and continue with a rented gas car as chargers are always down.
So they have the Mustang Mach-e to attract dudebro sports car boomers (unlikely to like EVs), plus the F-150 Lightning to attract pickup truck guys (unlikely to like EVs), and then a cargo van. Hmm wonder why it’s not working.
Mach E isn’t going to attract any performance buyers. It can’t make a 1/4 mile pass at full throttle. It’s also a lot smaller inside than you’d expect. Mustang branding it was a big mistake, and frankly they should have made it 25% larger.
Lightning has promise, except the totally bungled it by trying to force it as an EV. Had they just made it a powertrain option for the f150, it would be more popular. As it sits, the lightning feels a generation behind the ICE f150, and isn’t getting a y of the updates it has. There’s a market for trucks that don’t do work, the commuter truck that gets sold in the back or fishing poles. People will pay comparable.prices for an EV truck to an ICE one. But it can’t be worse than the ICE truck and more money than it.
Realistically, what sells in EVs are larger SUVs and cheaper little sedans. A HUGE portion of EV buyers will only buy a Tesla because they want that image, and they think there’s just some huge technical advantage Tesla has. So even if you compete in those segments, it’s an uphill, expensive battle.
I think the “demand” was marketing and media bs.