rperez817

That's correct jpd80. With the separation of Ford's BEV operations into Model e division, and Jim Farley's commitment to an order-based system with inventory levels at 50-60 days, it's very sad that Ford can't seem to figure out this very fundamental aspect of automaking in the 21st century.

Not wrong at all Oacjay98, in fact former Ford NA Product Communications Director Mark Levine said that Mustang Mach-E and Evos "have similar silhouettes". Levine also was firm in his statement that Evos is not coming to North America.

My local electric utility company, Oncor, is investing in various initiatives for improving grid resiliency. Not only will that accommodate the growth of BEV, but BEV with V2G capabilities (such as Ford F-150 Lightning) can in return enhance the stability of the electric grid and reduce the frequency of outages. In Dallas, Oncor is doing a research project with Toyota involving 4 interconnected microgrids that includes V2G supply equipment, solar panels and battery storage. The microgrids can be run independently, or combined into a single larger system. Ford has been doing similar pilot projects with PG&E in California. Toyota Delves into EV technology with new V2G pilot (electrek.co) PG&E and Ford Collaborate on Bidirectional Electric Vehicle Charging Technology in Customers’ Homes | Business Wire

They can be, assuming Ford is successful with a totally different approach to designing, engineering, manufacturing, and marketing its BEV. Regarding Ford's 2 row ICE utilities in the U.S. market, it looks like a lot of prospective customers followed the advice that Car and Driver gave in its review of 2020 Escape (December 2019 issue).

Tesla wins permit approval for Diner and Drive-in Movie Supercharger in LA (teslarati.com) Highlights. Tesla has been teasing the possibility for several years of a drive-in movie theater and diner Supercharger site that would host 32 stalls, two screens to show famous movie clips, and a restaurant with rooftop seating. The plan was approved by the City of Los Angeles, and the permit was issued on July 18, 2023 On August 9, the initial grading inspection was completed and approved, so Tesla essentially has the green light to finally move forward with the project.

Ford will use 3M's 2080 series wrap, which can be removed cleanly and easily by auto body shops and detailers. Underneath the wrap, F-150 Lightning Platinum Black Edition is painted in Agate Black Metallic. 3M™ Wrap Film 2080-M12, Matte Black, 60 in x 25 yd, 1 Roll/Case | 3M United States

F-150 Lightning Platinum Black Edition (shorthandstories.com)

2024 F-150 Lightning may be offered in a Tremor version according to Car and Driver. Ford F-150 Lightning Looks Like It'll Get the Tremor Treatment (caranddriver.com)

Inventory data by brand for the end of July 2023. Ford brand was steady at about 75 days. Lincoln dropped to about 90. Overall industry average is 56 days.

No, not the overall category. Of the 6 BEV pickup trucks that Cox Automotive specified in its latest survey, Ford and Rivian currently dominate the sales charts (Cybertruck, Silverado EV, Ram 1500 REV, and Hummer EV are either not in production yet or sell in very limited quantities). Over the next couple years as production for all of these BEV pickup trucks ramps up dramatically, we'll have a better gauge of the strongest players in what's expected to be the combination of 2 of the hottest components of the automotive industry, pickup trucks and BEV. But for now, F-150 Lightning is the only BEV pickup truck in which the gap between consumer appeal (before product reveal) and consumer consideration (after product reveal) is positive in the Cox Automotive survey.

Cox Automotive's latest data shows that F-150 Lightning continues to "outshine the competition on all factors".

Thank you Rick73. The 2023 Tesla Model 3 I purchased recently uses 60 kWh prismatic LFP battery with cells sourced from CATL. Both the current setup and the upgrade for Model 3 Highland are perfect examples of what Jim Farley described. "Tesla maximizes use of electrons in the vehicle. No one does it better than they do. Their customers pay less for a better battery." Ford has also partnered with CATL for LFP batteries and is building a manufacturing facility in south central Michigan near Battle Creek. SOP is expected in 2026. https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023/02/13/ford-taps-michigan-for-new-lfp-battery-plant--new-battery-chemis.html

Ford is partnering with EcoProBM and SK to build a new plant in Quebec that will make NCM based cathode active materials for BEV batteries. EcoProBM, SK On, Ford Investing in Québec; Building Cathode Plant to Solidify EV supply chain in North America | Ford Media Center Highlights. EcoProBM, SK On and Ford are planning to invest C$1.2 billion to build a cathode manufacturing facility in Bécancour, Québec EcoPro CAM Canada LP will create approximately 345 new jobs; production is targeted to begin in the first half of 2026

Back to BlueCruise. Earlier this week Ford announced that it is dramatically expanding BlueCruise availbility and providing more flexible, easier to understand subscription options. Ford BlueCruise Expands Flexibility with Complimentary Trial, Monthly or Annual Offers for Hands-Free Driving Tech | Ford Media Center Highlights. Building on its 225,000 Ford BlueCruise-equipped vehicles on the road today globally, Ford is projected to install BlueCruise hardware on an additional 500,000 vehicles for the 2024 model year in North America across Ford and Lincoln, expanding availability With BlueCruise hardware included as standard from the factory on equipped vehicles, Ford is offering greater flexibility to customers to activate BlueCruise at any point during the vehicle ownership journey – at purchase, annually or even monthly Customers who choose not to activate at time of order or vehicle purchase will be given a complimentary 90-day trial starting from purchase to experience hands-free highway driving and after that, can activate BlueCruise when and if they choose Ford and Lincoln customers have spent 1.4 million hours enjoying and using BlueCruise and have driven 100 million hands-free miles and counting

Based on Jim Farley's desire for Ford to emphasize a totally different, vertically integrated approach to BEV design, engineering, manufacturing, and sales; his emphasis on "passion" or "icon" brands; and also for Ford to exit overcrowded and/or low margin segments, I think it's all of the above.

That reason is what akirby mentioned. Limited availability and associated price hikes. Since introduction, F-150 Lightning was extremely production constrained, and customer demand still exceeds Ford's ability to build those trucks. That supply-demand dynamic combined with raw material costs caused Ford to dramatically increase pricing for F-150 Lightning between SOP and the early part of 2023. Fortunately, the recent expansion of Rouge Electric Vehicle Center has already had a positive impact in terms of increasing production and lowering prices. But Ford still has a lot of work to do not only to fulfill existing customer orders for F-150 Lightning, but also to transition the entire F-Series product lineup to 100% electric ASAP.

Regarding Farley's comment about ICE-like EV platforms, he is likely referring to almost all major incumbent automakers that compete with Ford with the notable exception of General Motors. Last year John McElroy spoke about the huge disadvantage of ICE-like EV platforms, what he described as scar tissue. ICE-Based BEVs: Let’s Talk Scar Tissue (wardsauto.com)

Governor Talmadge signed Georgia's right-to-work law in March 1947, 3 months before Taft-Hartley Act was enacted by the federal government. Agriculture remains an important industry in Georgia (especially chicken, cotton, and peanuts), but its direct contribution to Georgia's GSP and proportion of the overall labor force is about 1%. The state has been predominantly urban for decades. In the 2020 census, Georgia was 74% urban. Playing the race card is exactly what white Southern politicians did to garner support for right-to-work laws in the 1940s and 1950s. For example, Vance Muse said "From now on, white women and white men will be forced into organizations with black African apes whom they will have to call 'brother' or lose their jobs" to argue against labor union activity (and to promote right-to-work laws) in Texas.

Correct. Ford states that Mustang GTD "will start life at the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant and then be transported to Multimatic facilities in Markham, Canada, where it will be handcrafted for racing-inspired precision by the Ford Performance and Multimatic teams." Lots of Mustang GTD info available for download on Dropbox. EMBARGOED 2025 Ford Mustang GTD - Dropbox

Official Mustang GTD video from Ford.

Ford will probably do something similar to campaign 21B09, which contained provisions to replace the 3G TCU/modem on affected vehicles with a 4G unit after 3G was sunsetted in 2022. MC-10235323-0001.pdf (nhtsa.gov)

The Ford survey that akirby linked a few posts up indicates that F-150 Lightning owners actually do "trucky" things with their vehicle more frequently than regular F-150 owners. 74% of the Lightning owners are using their vehicle once a month for home projects — moving things such as mulch, dirt and flooring and drywall — once a month whereas 51% of the ICE owners say they're using the truck that frequently for such projects. 27% of the Lightning buyers are using the truck bed for home project hauling once a week versus 14% for F-150 buyers. 48% of Lightning owners go camping once a month, hauling bikes, tents, kayaks and cooking stoves. About 40% of the F-150 (ICE) owners camp as frequently. Both vehicles are available with Pro Power outlets in the bed that can supply electricity.

Going back to the original post in this thread, Peter Stern's experience at Apple should ensure that not only does Ford provide high value services and software offerings to customers, but also avoid inconsistent and confusing messaging about the pricing and terms for those offerings, as what happened with the BlueCruise pricing updates for Mustang Mach-E earlier this year. Apple has applied the subscription-based business model for both hardware and software better than any other company in the world by delivering value to the customer and making the experience easy.

You stated, "I know marketing hype when I see it, but apparently some buyers felt deceived". There was no hype from Ford involving F-150 Lightning's capabilities as a pickup truck. Motor Trend said the following when they first tested F-150 Lightning. I do agree with you that some buyers felt deceived, specifically, those buyers who had to either wait an inordinate amount of time to get their truck, or simply didn't have an opportunity to get one in the first place because Ford closed the order bank early. Ford has addressed some of the root causes from a production planning standpoint, and its marketing e-mails are more forthright about product availbility nowadays. I got this e-mail a week ago from Ford.

With F-150 Lightning, Ford is an in interesting situation. It overdelivered in terms of product excellence, but underdelivered (literally) in terms of getting the product to customers in a timely manner.