Just over a year ago, Ford CEO Jim Farley revealed that the company has tasked a skunkworks team to develop a low-cost EV platform roughly two years prior, which was a notable development for a number of reasons. Aimed at helping Ford compete with the likes of Tesla and its Chinese EV rivals, this new platform will soon underpin a variety of future models, starting with a mid-size pickup. Interestingly, Farley also recently added that this EV team is quite efficient in terms of how it spends its research and development funds, too.
“We’re not guessing anymore. And that was super capital efficient. Literally, we did it on $0.30 on the dollar, compared to what Ford would develop [for] the same platform,” Farley said during the recent Wolfe Research Auto, Auto Tech and Semiconductor Conference. “And I think that will give us a huge benefit, because we believe that EV demand is still out there, that there is a very underserved group of people on the super affordable, where actually running an EV is cheaper than an ICE product.”
This is obviously big news given the fact that Farley previously revealed that Ford hasn’t been cost competitive compared to its rivals since 2009, and the automaker has been working to right that financial ship for some time now. At the same time, the exec is betting the literal farm on his EV skunkworks team, which is operating in a very streamlined manner that helps reduce costs as well.
In terms of what we can expect to see come from this low-cost EV platform in the future, Farley previously hinted that the first such product – the aforementioned mid-size pickup – will be a “game changer.” Previously, most expected a small crossover to launch first, but it’s unclear if such a model is still in the works. However, Farley recently hinted that the Louisville Assembly plant – which builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair – might soon be retooled for EV production.
Comments
It’s the hot air EV spewage of the day!
So move those teams over to ICE and hybrid projects (if there are any). Sheesh!
If EVs are so important to forward why does an ICE get 31,000 for pass points what an EV only gets 22,000? It’s rather than insulting basically Ford is saying EVs are not important and by extension their owners are not important
Ford dealerships can’t even support the EV vehicles they produce. I should know. I have an F150 lightning that has been out of service for 100 days. Ford has been absolutely useless and the customer support is even worse from the BEV team. Producing a cheaper platform EV will just make things worse for the dealerships. If your going to focus on EV you better focus on service support
If the styling of the EV Explorer, Farley is leaning on, is an indication of the prowess of the EV team, he should start over.
Farley is an idiot! Chasing the EV dream while losing $49,000 on each one it sells! Someone at Ford needs to wake up and smell the ICE $$$$ fumes!
If Ford wants to have a future, the EV team better produce something soon. Lightning and Mach-E were just practice runs. ICE will be just a memory soon. Barra is shifting into high gear, too.
The skunk works team may be onto something good. The Mach e and Lightening new versions have been pushed backward in an attempt to utilize such.