Early last month, FoMoCo announced that it was delaying the production start date of both the three-row Ford Explorer EV for North America (not the existing European model), as well as the next-generation Ford F-150 EV pickup. At the time, the reasoning behind this decision was simple – the automaker wants to focus on getting smaller, cheaper EVs to market first, starting with a $25k crossover riding on a new, low-cost platform that’s set to launch in 2026. However, when speaking during the automaker’s Q1 2024 earnings call with investors, CEO Jim Farley also revealed that something else played a role in the delay of the Ford Explorer EV, specifically.
“And we’re being very consistent about our discipline on profitability. We expect every one of our EVs to make money in the first 12 months, and that is a very disciplined process,” Farley said. “In fact, we delayed the launch of our three-row crossover, which is a great product, two years, not only to match the slower growth in EV but more importantly to take advantage of new battery chemistry and formats to substantially reduce the cost of the batteries for that vehicle. We’ll do everything it takes to be profitable in the first 12 months of our vehicles.”
The forthcoming North American Ford Explorer EV is slated to be produced at the Oakville Assembly plant in Canada, and the retooling of that same facility is set to begin soon following the end of Ford Edge production. That process will still move on as previously expected, but Ford’s decision to delay the production start date of the Explorer EV drew the ire of the Canadian union Unifor, which is working with the automaker to mitigate the impact of this two-year delay on its workers there.
However, aside from taking care of the 3,200 Ford employees at Oakville, the automaker’s decision to push back the Ford Explorer EV from 2025 to 2027 is also set to have wider-reaching impacts on the industry as a whole. Aside from suppliers who are now forced to switch gears, the Canadian government pledged to invest $590 million in Oakville for its retooling process, which the automaker made specific commitments to secure.
We’ll have more on the Ford Explorer EV for North America soon, so be sure to subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Explorer news and continuous Ford news coverage.
Comments
Toyota is bringing a three row SUV to the market. Will this force FORD hsnd?
Can we just have a plug in hybrid, 2.3 with 50km range and do a hard pass on this EV Explorer for now?!
Ford I will buy one!
Ford is losing market share in the EV race. I understand that they want to be profitable in their EVs, but if they don’t release an EV that the consumers want, then they will look somewhere else for companies that have an EV that they want. US based customers want SUVs and cars. Ford doesn’t make cars anymore and the Mach-e is hardly an SUV.
They need to release a 3-row SUV ASAP (in 2025) because pushing it out until 2027 is too late. Look at how well the Kia EV9 is selling, it’s really popular due to it’s price and the fact that it’s a 3-row SUV.
Ford wants to release another EV truck, that’s a mistake. Trucks shouldn’t be an EV at the moment. It doesn’t do what trucks do and be a work horse and tow things. The battery technology needs to get better before a truck is released.
Get the SUV out in 2025 and it will sell!!
Well-thought-out comments. Dead on!