Over the past several months, Ford has shifted gears in a big way, pivoting away from its ambitious EV plans and more towards hybrids as demand for pure electric vehicles has fallen. However, while this plan makes sense from a business perspective, the automaker is facing one major hurdle, in particular – a zero-emissions mandate in the UK that’s set to take place in 2035, which The Blue Oval has historically supported while others have called such a move untenable. As for Ford CEO Jim Farley, it’s clear that he has strong opinions on this topic as well.
When asked about the possibility that the 2035 EV mandate will effectively kill off ICE models entirely in a recent interview with Autocar, Farley said “Are you sure? I don’t think we know. When you need a Transit for your work, or you’re a rancher with a pickup in the U.S., electric power is a terrible solution – and even the most radical, decarbonizing politician can’t afford to be on the wrong side of the customers.”
“Maybe the solution will be hydrogen,” Farley added. “Or the sustainable fuels thing is coming along. Whenever someone starts telling me they know the future, I hear a warning buzzer in my head. There are no certainties in our industry. I’ve heard this stuff a thousand times: every car’s going electric, every car’s going hydrogen, every car’s going diesel. There have been a lot of blind alleys. Most of our lowered emissions standards are achieved by fleets, so I believe we can still sell some special cars if the fleet business is strong.”
While these comments may come as a surprise to some given the level of commitment that Ford – and Jim Farley – previously showed toward EVs, the automaker has pivoted in a big way as of late. After delaying the launch of a pair of planned EVs, Ford rolled out its new “Freedom of Choice” ad campaign touting the fact that customers have several powertrain options to choose from. Additionally, more than one executive has noted that consumers are dictating the pace of EV adoption, and that the automaker won’t force anyone to buy an EV, either.
We’ll have more on Ford’s electrification strategy soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for non-stop Ford news coverage.
Comments
“……you’re a rancher with a pickup in the U.S., electric power is a terrible solution…..”
This rancher in Montana disagrees with you, Mr Farley. We have two Ford Lightnings on our 3,000 acres of land, which got through two sub-zero Winters just fine. Over time, science will improve and enhance the abilities of electric vehicles, but advancements can’t be made until the first vehicle is built and bought, with others to follow.
So many people here drag their feet, resisting progress and technology, but they want anything new to be perfect right at inception. That’s fine. You don’t want an electric truck? Don’t buy one. Your options have not become at all limited. Just stay out of the way of progress and those of us who see the advantages—-even on a ranch—-of electric pickups.
“You don’t want an electric truck? Don’t buy one. Your options have not become at all limited.”
This is all we’ve been saying, but the upcoming mandates say otherwise. We want CHOICES and each person can decide what’s best for them.
Also, our options HAVE ALREADY become more limited. Look around and see what Stellantis has done by cutting out all of the Dodge and RAM V8s now (Challengers, Chargers, pickups, SUVs), the death of the Camaro, The Tundra no longer has a V8 option, the list goes on. The market did not demand this, bureaucrats and politicians did.
Sorry, John;
You’re wrong, or you have it backward. Those decisions are based entirely on market-driven conditions. Only 3% of buyers opted for the diesel motor available in the F-150, so it was dropped. Trust me: President Biden had nothing to do with that decision. Stellantis did not cancel Challengers, Chargers, pickups (what pickups, by the way?) because of politics; it was done because public demand for V8 power has plummeted…..and why? For example, more horsepower and torque can be extracted from four- and six-cylinder motors than ever before, rivaling (and sometimes exceeding) what a V8 could provide.
What this really is about——American men feeling emasculated because their big, cage-fighter motors are replaced by still-powerful but smaller, smarter and more efficient——and less fuel-consuming and polluting—-motors. No one is expecting us to buy a Mazda Miata, nor forcing us to.
Really——-take a deep breath, count backward from ten, and look at allllll the ICE motors still available in vehicles and available to rabid Toby Keith fans.
We’re not being cancelled, we’re not being replaced; stop projecting your insecurities on motor choices and grow a pair.
We’ll be just fine.
I find your claim of being a Montana rancher quite suspect. No self respecting or actual rancher would equate someone who loved Toby Keith with something negative. Especially considering his recent death and how much he was loved.
So you’re either a liar or pitiful person in general.
It’s crazy what some folks will say to take something from people and justify it.
You are wrong. Still a very high demand for V8 engines.
“The market did not demand this, bureaucrats and politicians did”. Facts.
Anyone disagreeing, simply doesn’t understand how politics work here in America.
Loving this man more and more each day.
I see an s650 GT in my garage soon.
Based human being.
Love this dude!
Government mandates from those in charge who turn a blind eye to the massive coal burning power plant expansion in China and India. We could list more “stuff” but this works for a starter.
Politicians would support a perpetual motion sub zero emission machine to save the solar system from climate collapse if given a chance.
What would you do to stop climate collapse, or what are you doing?
All politics is local, and all people are politicians, by the decisions they make with their money. We all affect effects by every spending decision we make.
“What would you do to stop climate collapse, or what are you doing?”
LOL!!!
No human or humans will ever be able to effect the climate changes they are normally occurring and you bought into the fallacy of it. Your way of thinking is if we create some new device we will stop climate from doing what it’s always done change. Well let me tell you a little secret that the environmentalists and the ones pushing the climate agenda will never tell you. It’s about putting the green aka money into their pockets and nothing more than that. Quit fooling yourself into believing that you or anyone else plays a part in how the climate acts.
Farley’s comments are the result of consumers not adopting BEV vehicles at the pace they, and others, once thought. Now Ford and other vehicle manufacturers are pivoting their manufacturing strategies. To me the real story is how these companies misread their customers so badly, except for Toyota who saw this coming.