After initially going all-in on all-electric vehicles a few years ago by pledging to invest billions in that particular business, Ford has since made some major revisions to its future plans as sales continue to grow – but demand is falling a bit behind expected levels. As such, the automaker decided to delay around $12 billion in planned EV investments, and has since shifted its focus away from pricier, larger EVs and toward smaller, cheaper ones. As it turns out, all of these moves were made in response to consumer trends, as Bob Holycross, Ford’s vice president and chief sustainability, environment, and safety officer, recently explained to TCD.
“If there’s one thing we’ve learned, the customers are going to dictate the pace of overall adoption of electrification,” Holycross said. “While we’ve seen a little bit of volatility in the rate of adoption, the overall trajectory is about growth. We’ll sell more electric vehicles this year than we sold last year. The pace is showing that more and more customers are coming.”
As Ford CEO Jim Farley recently admitted, the pricing disparity between ICE vehicles and EVs remains a big barrier standing in the way of more widespread adoption, and as such, the automaker is working on developing lower-cost alternatives with “hybrid premium” pricing.
At the same time, The Blue Oval recently announced that it was pushing back planned production start dates for the three-row Ford Explorer EV for North America and the next-generation Ford F-150 EV. At the same time, the automaker also revealed that it plans to offer a hybrid powertrain across the entire Ford Blue lineup by 2030, which means that a host of new electrified options are set to hit the market in the coming years as shoppers continue to purchase hybrids in large quantities.
We’ll have more on Ford’s EV strategy soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
This should be business 101. Unfortunately, you have the Blackrocks and Vanguards pushing this crap down everyone’s throats, aided by the “consulting” companies that those hedge funds also own, like S&P Global.
Yup. Peoples’ 401k’s give away shareholder influence to the Blackrocks, Vanguards, State Streets. TPTB operating right under peoples’ noses.
Our family joined the Nationwide boycott against EVs. Americans have spoken with a resounding “NO” as evidenced by all the EV cancelations that we forced due to the boycott. Our offroad club said our focus is to boycott hybrids next. Americans decide, not Government.
If they are waiting for me to help with the ev transition they will be waiting a long time
How can the ‘marketplace’ determine the transition to EVs if they don’t build what people want? I want/need an EDGE-sized vehicle with turbo/Ecoboost primary engine and 40 mile PHEV that can tow a 3,500 lb. trailer in the mountains of Colorado.
And this year’s Captain Obvious award goes to….