It wasn’t too terribly long ago that automakers were pushing EVs as a sure-fire replacement for ICE vehicles, and at first, consumers were buying them up as expected. However, demand has since normalized, prompting those same companies – including Ford – to scale back their planned investments in electrification, and even cancel or delay certain models. Regardless, more than one Ford executive has also been quite clear that there are some misconceptions many customers have in regard to EVs in general, sentiments that were recently echoed by Ford Model e COO Marin Gjaja.
“That’s the conundrum for us as an industry,” Gjaja said at the Automotive News Congress in Pontiac, Michigan recently. “We have a compliance requirement to sell electric vehicles, but out there we have customers who are fearing loss and misperceive the value. My job is to figure out how to sell and market a vehicle that people don’t appreciate its value until they own it for three years.”
Gjaja made it clear that one of his biggest challenges in regard to selling more EVs is overcoming misconceptions and misinformation held by a number of customers, which have only intensified as electric vehicles become more and more politicized. He pointed to the ability to charge at home, use EVs as a power source, and lower ownership costs as specific benefits some may not be aware of, which is precisely why the automaker is working to educate customers in a variety of ways – including via the AI digital training program known as Ford University.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has long voiced similar sentiments, saying that at least half of the general public would be better off owning an EV versus an ICE model, though he also believes consumers will eventually embrace all-electric vehicles as well. Farley has cited Americans’ love for large vehicles as a barrier to EV adoption, not to mention high prices, though the company is now focusing on hybrids as more of a stop-gap measure.
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“Don’t get the benefits of EVs…” Or, and maybe I’m just spit balling, customers have considered EVs strengths and weaknesses against their personal needs and concluded that EVs don’t measure up.
“That’s the conundrum for us as an industry,” Gjaja said at the Automotive News Congress in Pontiac, Michigan recently. “We have a compliance requirement to sell electric vehicles, but out there we have customers who are fearing loss and misperceive the value. My job is to figure out how to sell and market a vehicle that people don’t appreciate its value until they own it for three years.”
Maybe Ford’s job should be to push back on unrealistic regulations a bit and sell vehicles that people want, or dare I say, vehicles that people are EXCITED to buy?
Gjaja sounds like Ford’s very own Minister of Propaganda. I think customers understand EVs just fine. They just don’t make sense for many people. An “all of the above” approach, which Ford has only recently embraced is the best path forward. But you are right that the government has unrealistic expectations and regulations, and automobile manufacturers need to stand up for their customers and collectively push back on these governments around the world. The government is wrong. The customer is (always) right.
I think vehicles are expensive enough and the EV option is just more cost. I’m fine with hybrid options but even they are unaffordable to me.
You are too stupid, and we know what’s better for you. Sounds like the federal government. Pay more for a smaller vehicle and then find out is $2500 to install that home EV charger.
$2500.00????? What if you have an OLDER HOME with a 100AMP Service???? The whole thing is too Costly. And some Fly By Night Installers don’t know the Proper way to Install a Charger and are Causing Melting Wall Chargers and Fires. And the Picture above???? Come on you Wingnuts, that would be the LAST PLACE I’D Hang my $100.00+++ Charger!!! Ya, It’s just an advertisement, but a Piss Poor One to say the Least! And… Why aren’t ALL the LIGHTS on Inside the house and the CABLE Plugged Into the F-150 LIGHTNING with the caption, “and you can run your whole house with the F-150 LIGHTNING”??? Just PLUG IT IN!!! …. GOO GOO GA GA….
I was the impression that FORD’s ev sales were up 61%.
I would think any automaker would be overjoyed at that kind of a sales increase…
Even though can is cheap Ford is still making sales to those who make the choice to get them… What’s wrong with that?
For local commutes, an EV makes sense and I might would consider buying one if they were cheap enough. But an EV is a long way from replacing my ICE truck. I am not willing to stop and wait on a vehicle to charge for 20 minutes every 300 or so miles when I travel. I much prefer to whip into a station, fill the tank and keep rolling. And there is certainly no way I am stopping every 100 miles or so to charge while pulling my trailer with a vehicle on it.
All these above comments have great points. EV will never overcome ICE vehicles until charge storage, mileage across all conditions (elevation and temps), and price of ownership (initial cost, charge station, electricity prices) gets a lot better. They are expensive to purchase, charge, and fix. They will work in an urban environment, if the electricity is produced efficiently, where drive times are short and in favorable weather conditions. They do not work in cold weather areas, long distance drives, towing over distance, or are affordable to own. Even someone younger just getting out on their own, living in an urban area with access to this option of EV can’t afford the initial purchase let alone the rest of it. Mandating EV’s doesn’t change any of this in the real world.
“My job is to figure out how to sell and market a vehicle that people don’t appreciate its value..,”
hmm let’s see.
Do we appreciate the fact that it needs a whole new charging system to be added to your house ( if you live in a house and not an apartment complex)?
Do we appreciate that batteries catch fire in EV and now Hybrid models and people are told to keep them parked outside since a battery fire is a burning metal fire and doesn’t go out for hours?
Do we appreciate that the cars are heavier than ICE engine cars and go through 3 sets of expensive tires before your ICE engine car goes through their first set?
Do those who leave in northern climes appreciate that battery life drops by nearly 50% when it gets cold?
Do those with pickup trucks appreciate that you can’t tow with your truck unless you have a long extension cord, or stop to charge less than every hundred miles?
I think people realize EV’s are a CON job and the answer is a resounding no.
The claim EV are great for the cities is hilarious. First off the majority of urban dwellings are row homes. No guarantee one gets to park in front of their home in order to charge the vehicle. Secondly, the odds are extremely high the residential charging station would be stolen in a week. For the suburban dwellers, I can drive from the MidcAtlantic to Orlando Florida in 12 to 14 hours. I would most likely have to spend the night and possibly two nights in a hotel in order to make the same trip in an EV due to charging time and charging availability.
Yea, Gjaja….why don’t you go back to wherever the hell you’re from. Don’t ever dictate to the American people what the hell we want to drive. The majority want economical gas burning cars. That are affordable !!
I believe that the vast majority of U.S. motorists have a fairly good understanding by now of the advantages and the disadvantages that EVs pose for them… and for the vast majority of U.S drivers, especially those in the northern states, an EV may either not be practical, or may simply be too expensive to purchase and own. It is easy for the federal government and Ford executives to be critical of non-EV owners, the vast majority of which likely have their transportation paid for or subsidized in some way, shape or form. A natural transition from ICE vehicles to EV vehicles is through the development of Hybrids… on a good day I can squeeze 50 to 60 MPG out of my wife’s 2016 Fusion Hybrid… and I have to believe that if Ford applied their current technology to that vehicle, a 2025 Fusion Hybrid (if there were such a thing) could attain 60 to 80 MPG… yet the 2025 Ford Escape Hybrid is rated at 42 MPG city and 46 MPG highway… not much better (20 years later) than the 2005 version which was rated at 33 MPG city and 29 MPG highway. Does Ford really expect us to believe that after 20 years of development that is the best they can do? If the U.S. motoring public does not speak up and express their feelings to U.S. automakers nothing will change, and they will continue to plod along hand-in-hand with the federal government.
Correction: 2025 Ford Escape Hybrid is rated at 42 MPG city and 36 MPG highway.
Nobody wants to buy a EV when today you pay 80k for it and a year after you buy it it’s only worth 35k. Not to mention the production of materials for EV batteries alone are taking a toll on the environment and human life
“Ford Exec hopessly out of touch with customers” would have been a more true version of the headline.
Another dumb Excecutive assuming the customer is not smart enough. We don’t want ev’s! Spend more money on things we dont want. You don’t realize the benefits of your customers.
EV’s don’t work for many. Manufacturers probably like the mandates since they over reacted to the big government threats. If Trump wins mandates will be gone. I think Ford and others are worried. Let demand and supply balance out. Give everybody a choice. China wins with electric mandates.
It’s not just Ford. GM is hopelessly obsessed with EVs too. They spent all this money rushing EVs out the door (many half-baked) with ZERO input from potential customers. And now all (or most) of those EV-intenders are now buying hybrids, which have their issues too – like the cost to replace the battery, eventually, We’ll hear screeching about that down the road.
I know the “benefits” but there’s more problems than advantages especially in the used market. Don’t blame your customers because you decided to jump before you looked.
I understand EV’s just fine.
– No charging infrastructure
– No power grid to support charging infrastructure
– More polluting to build
– Dependent on unsustainable rare earth elements, hence being given the name “rare”
– Dependent on foreign sources of rare earth elements
– Go up in flames when coming into contact with water, especially salt water
– When in flames, cannot be extinguished and burns everything near it to the ground as well (Many NC residents had insult added to injury by having an EV parked in their garage at the time their homes got flooded. Instead of having a recoverable home, they had a burn out husk, and in some cases, burnt their neighbors homes to the ground as well)
– On road trips, takes too long to charge
– Range goes into the toilet in cold weather
With all this, I really do not understand why anyone buys EVs. But, to each their own. Me, I’m never buying an EV.
You mean like limited places to charge cars, Some charging areas using diesel generators to generate electricity, 300 miles or so driving limits. very expensive service, cars that cost a lot more. the fact that EV cause more environmental damage in the raw materials to finished product. what about recycling an EV where is that in the big picture. like internal engines, mileage goes way down in colder areas.
Yes we need to change our pollution habits but where is the best way to start. Maybe let’s build mini solar generating “stations” that are portable this would be a great aid (note my house isn’t “right” for solar so they told me).
Solar vehicles will come but it’ll take more development and better mileage, easier to charge before the masses accept.
This executive is simply useless and doesn’t understand the many weaknesses of EVs.
Not to mention quality control issues under Failure Farley.
Why would I want a vehicle that loses mileage the longer I own it? My ICE doesn’t have that issue.