Trader 10

“To eventually supply future EV’s, possibly by the end of the decade.” No short term return on this investment.

I don’t see why it is so important for Ford to manufacture their own batteries, at least for the next few years. Mach E has demonstrated that Ford can buy batteries from suppliers that are at least equal to competitors that make their own. There’s been lots of talk about battery technology and huge sums spent on R&D but doesn’t seem much progress has been made. Solid state batteries everyone is so excited about are apparently years off at a minimum.

Just a guess, but I think it was mainly for the Police Interceptor. I don’t know if they’ve sold more than a handful of Explorer hybrids. Have never seen one on a lot and fuel economy is about the same as the 2.3 Explorer.

It’s looking more and more like Ford has abandoned any sort of a Fusion replacement and will soldier on with the Edge the next few years.

Makes sense - the problem is can they sell in volumes large enough to be profitable? They will be substantially more expensive than ICE counterparts - witness Mach E - and even if they were priced similarly, many are not ready to buy an electric vehicle and likely won’t be for a number of years. Meanwhile the competition eats For’s lunch selling hunters of thousands of updated mid-sized SUV’s.

Gorgeous car. I presume this and the Evos are C2 based?

Toyota is supposed to be coming out with an all new Tacoma within a year, so Ranger won’t be competing against an old design from Toyota when the NG model arrives. Fuzzy has hinted that the next Ranger will be impressive, which is encouraging.

I suspect that the extreme cold that occurred in much of the U.S. during the middle two weeks of February helped inflate everyone’s March sales, but regardless Ford’s increase looks like it was the lowest in the industry. Nice to see Escape posting better numbers in March, but even adding BS sales to Escape shows Ford way behind RAV4 (47048 March sales) and CR-V (37711). BTW Toyota and Honda sold lots of cars in March - 32541 Camry, 30908 Corolla, 19968 Accord, and 24522 Civic sales.

The one on my 2015 Edge does drag on steep driveways.

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/02/10/ford-maverick-independent-rear-suspension-spy-photos/

There’s no doubt the Mach E is a great car and shows what Ford can do when it commits to building best in class vehicles. However, it is expensive and relies on the federal $7500 tax credit. I doubt sales of 150,000 annually can be reached without the subsidy to buyers unless Ford cuts the price significantly. Plus, can enough batteries be sourced to get to that kind of a volume in the next couple of years?

How does Ford fix this on affected trucks? Would seem to be expensive to do properly. Maybe send a check to owners as compensation?

Like your list, though I would have to have a fully restored 1959 4 door Cadillac.

Fuzzy, any speculation as to a job 1 date?

Not unless they’re priced similarly to ICE CUVs. That’s a huge switch in less than 9 years. As has been mentioned, there are a lot of customers who won’t be able to charge at home. The switch isn’t off to a very good start - customers aren’t exactly beating the doors down to buy Mach E’s. Meanwhile, the Bronco Sport and Bronco demand is off the charts. Cost, the question of battery availability, poor range, slow charging, insufficient grid capacity, and resistance to change by the customer are all issues that will likely slow the changeover from ICE to electric.

Sounds like the 2022 model.

I would also, but is it Europe only?

Regarding the MME, are any dealers discounting from sticker price? (Is Ford trying to prevent dealers from doing so)?

Far ahead of not much more than zero isn’t saying much. Tesla’s charging network is still woefully inadequate. The closest Tesla charger to where I live is 45 miles, and that is the case across a lot of the U.S. Unless you can charge at home, that’s not going to work.

I doubt Ford has any issues supplying plenty of 2.0 power plants - I wonder if the issue is with either the off road suspension or updated AWD unit that comes with the 2.0.

It may be normal for sales to fall off a year after a new model launch - the problem is Escape sales were significantly lower for the 2020 model compared to 2019. Some of the decline was Covid related, but if memory serves correct, Escape was down more than the competition. The Escape is in my opinion is a good value and offers a better driving experience than almost all of its competitors, but is far too bland. I don’t believe a refresh will help sales much - a new top hat is needed. Otherwise Ford will continue to have to sell them with big rebates and I can’t see how they will make any money selling them with 3K or more rebates.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2020/09/17/ford-invests-rouge-electric-f-150-uaw/5819541002/

That 29 mpg was obtained by driving for maximum economy in a manner few drivers will use. The EPA estimate is 24. Doubtful the Ranger will be able to reach above 30 mpg, but even 28 from a pickup that large would be great mileage.

Maybe PREMiERdrum will comment on this. I’m interested in his perspective.

When the the new Unifor contract was reached in September the press releases stated that BEV production would begin in 2024. That’s would be 36 to 42 months or more from now- way too early for a prototype this advanced. Looks like a model that will be ready for production in a year or less.