Electric Vehicle Discussion Thread - Ford Related

[jpd80]

And then there’s JMC, Ford’s partner in China that assisted with development of the Ford Territory BEV back in 2019, so maybe there’s a way of tapping into some resources that way as well, particularly if Escape/ Corsair is being produced there as well…….

 

It seems like Ford went from nothing to plenty of choices very quickly…..

Edited February 5, 2022 by jpd80

[rperez817]

Another big milestone in Ford's transition to an all-electric future took place earlier this week. The first batch of E-Transit vans produced at Kansas City Assembly Plant are now on their way to customers. Built for America, Ready for Work: Ford Pro™ Begins Shipping Electric E-Transit to Customers, Works to Boost Production | Ford Media Center

 

Ford E-Transit™, the electric version of America’s best-selling commercial van and the first of two all-electric vehicles purpose-built for Ford Pro™ commercial customers, is now shipping across the U.S. The popular E-Transit already has more than 10,000 orders from businesses of all sizes and Ford is working on ways to increase production.

The all-new E-Transit is produced at Kansas City Assembly Plant – Ford’s first U.S. plant to assemble both batteries and all-electric vehicles in-house.

“E-Transit is a testament to the fact that an electric commercial fleet is no longer a vision of tomorrow, but a productivity-boosting modern reality,” said Kumar Galhotra, president of The Americas & International Markets Group, Ford Motor Company

 

 

[rperez817]

KBB's latest Brand Watch Report has good news for Ford's vehicle electrification efforts. 2 Ford BEV and 2 Ford hybrid models were among the Top 10 "most shopped" electrified vehicles in Q4 2021. Most importantly, Mustang Mach-E was the most shopped non-Tesla BEV crossover and F-150 Lightning the most shopped BEV pickup truck. Q4-2021-Kelley-Blue-Book-Brand-Watch-Non-Luxury-Report.pdf (coxautoinc.com)

 

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by rperez817

[rperez817]

Ford announced yesterday it joined U.S. Department of Energy's Better Climate Challenge. It is the first automaker to do so. 

• Better Climate Challenge Factsheet. FactSheet_Better_Climate_Challenge.pdf (energy.gov)
• Ford Press Release. Ford Statement on Better Climate Challenge | Ford Media Center

Ford is taking leadership of the EV revolution. We’re electrifying our most iconic and popular vehicles, like the F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit.  But our commitment to combatting climate change goes far beyond our exciting electric product lineup. We’re proud to be the first automaker to join the Better Climate Challenge and to continue our commitment to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from our U.S. manufacturing facilities. We’re acting now to develop a ultra-efficient, closed-loop manufacturing system, creating jobs here in the United States. And we’re sharing what we learn to help other businesses and drive to a zero-emissions transportation future that’s good for people, good for business, and good for the planet.

[jpd80]

Ford has another announcement for Wednesday regarding Ford+ for growth and value creation will be the topic of a news conference tomorrow 

[rperez817]

4 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Ford has another announcement for Wednesday regarding Ford+ for growth and value creation will be the topic of a news conference tomorrow 

 

Thank you jpd80 sir, here is the official Ford press release on this. Ford Accelerating Transformation: Forming Distinct Auto Units to Scale EVs, Strengthen Operations, Unlock Value | Ford Media Center

 

[rperez817]

Good video from Ford featuring a couple F-150 Lightning engineers reviewing the cold weather testing they did for that product in Alaska. 

 

“

Alaska provides us the extremely cold temperatures, snow and ice-covered surfaces that we need to push the F-150 Lightning in this type of testing, which is really focused on dialing-in how the truck delivers its power to the ground on slippery surfaces,” said Cameron Dillon, F-150 Lightning powertrain engineer. “Customers may not regularly see minus 30-degree mornings like we are seeing here, but they will see winter cold, snow and icy roads, and they should feel confident their F-150 Lightning is ready for all of it.”

 

 

[rperez817]

In Mustang Mach-E news, Premium and California Route 1 trims are now sold out for 2022 model year. Ford Shuts Down Orders on Two 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E Trims (caranddriver.com)

 

Quote

Now 2022 Mach-E orders are limited to the $44,995 Select or the $63,095 GT. The Premium and California Route 1 will become available to order again for the 2023 model year, Ford says, with details to come at a later date.

Edited March 7, 2022 by rperez817

[jpd80]

And it begins, Ford announced that its cutting $3 billion of waste from Ford Blue, that’s code for layoffs are coming…….

[rperez817]

3 hours ago, jpd80 said:

And it begins, Ford announced that its cutting $3 billion of waste from Ford Blue, that’s code for layoffs are coming…….

 

Good to hear, thanks for sharing that news jpd80! Any and all such waste, workforce, and cost reductions in the Ford Blue division bode well for more investment in the Ford Model e division.

[Footballfan]

52 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

 

Good to hear, thanks for sharing that news jpd80! Any and all such waste, workforce, and cost reductions in the Ford Blue division bode well for more investment in the Ford Model e division.

Tell that to the person who is loosing their job....

[akirby]

5 hours ago, jpd80 said:

And it begins, Ford announced that its cutting $3 billion of waste from Ford Blue, that’s code for layoffs are coming…….

But that should be partially offset by new jobs on the EV side at least for the people involved.

 

The cuts are probably mostly in powertrain development and facilities.  At this point they don’t need new engines or transmissions.  Hopefully most can transfer to EV powertrains.

 

I’m sure there will be a lot of retirements as well.  

[jpd80]

2 hours ago, akirby said:

But that should be partially offset by new jobs on the EV side at least for the people involved.

 

The cuts are probably mostly in powertrain development and facilities.  At this point they don’t need new engines or transmissions.  Hopefully most can transfer to EV powertrains.

 

I’m sure there will be a lot of retirements as well.  

The fact that Ford didn’t completely elaborate details on employee /asset cuts at its recent town hall meeting is a clue that the next UAW contract negotiations is going to be mighty interesting. In the short term, I expect not much disruption at first but once we hit 2025 and dedicated BEV plants in Kentucky and Canada, we could suddenly see a lot of excess capacity at Dearborn, KCAP, CAP and Louisville but I’m getting ahead of myself here..let’s just say that there’s some tough days coming for Ford Blue employees..

Edited March 8, 2022 by jpd80

[FordBuyer]

3 hours ago, Footballfan said:

Tell that to the person who is loosing their job....

 

You mean tell that to the UAW when contract comes up. Farley needs to tone down his rhetoric as I can almost feel UAW anxiety rising. Farley may be running full speed ahead, but UAW will be trying to slow him down big time as in protecting its members. 

[Footballfan]

16 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

 

You mean tell that to the UAW when contract comes up. Farley needs to tone down his rhetoric as I can almost feel UAW anxiety rising. Farley may be running full speed ahead, but UAW will be trying to slow him down big time as in protecting its members. 

He is not used to dealing with unions- or strikes- at Toyota.  Let's hope the UAW does not roll over as they have in the past.

[jpd80]

22 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

 

You mean tell that to the UAW when contract comes up. Farley needs to tone down his rhetoric as I can almost feel UAW anxiety rising. Farley may be running full speed ahead, but UAW will be trying to slow him down big time as in protecting its members. 

The issue is that at least two new production facilities are in Kentucky and Canada and if they make what I suspect, I think the UAW is going to be mighty pissed off when it realises that shedding shifts from high volume plants will become a thing long before plant closures..That also means les engine and transmission production, it’s going to affect jobs in Michigan and Canada.

 

I would love to know how Farley came up with such a specific $3 billion figure, is that something the top brass have been working on for the past few months?

Edited March 8, 2022 by jpd80

[FordBuyer]

40 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

The issue is that at least two new production facilities are in Kentucky and Canada and if they make what I suspect, I think the UAW is going to be mighty pissed off when it realises that shedding shifts from high volume plants will become a thing long before plant closures..That also means les engine and transmission production, it’s going to affect jobs in Michigan and Canada.

 

I would love to know how Farley came up with such a specific $3 billion figure, is that something the top brass have been working on for the past few months?

 

Farley is also questioning the ability of present Ford engineers and techs to pull off a Ford EV future. Go figure as in Mach E, Transit EV, and Lightning. Sure, Ford will need more software talent, but dissing what you have now is kind of tone deaf. 

[rperez817]

54 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

Farley is also questioning the ability of present Ford engineers and techs to pull off a Ford EV future. Go figure as in Mach E, Transit EV, and Lightning. Sure, Ford will need more software talent, but dissing what you have now is kind of tone deaf. 

 

While there are certainly some engineers and techs at Ford who can do BEV related work and do it well, Farley is absolutely correct when he said during the Ford Model e/Ford Blue split announcement that Ford needs "radically different human talent" than what it has now.

 

"Too much complexity, too many people, not enough expertise with BEV" is how Farley described Ford Motor Company's present state. He deserves much praise for confronting that brutal reality and taking action.

 

 

[rmc523]

2 hours ago, FordBuyer said:

 

Farley is also questioning the ability of present Ford engineers and techs to pull off a Ford EV future. Go figure as in Mach E, Transit EV, and Lightning. Sure, Ford will need more software talent, but dissing what you have now is kind of tone deaf. 

 

I have to imagine 1) people that worked on Ford's existing EV products were "transferred" to Ford Model E, 2) they hired new people in advance of working on the current crop of EVs, and 3) current non-EV engineers could also apply to transfer to EVs.

[jpd80]

5 hours ago, rmc523 said:

 

I have to imagine 1) people that worked on Ford's existing EV products were "transferred" to Ford Model E, 2) they hired new people in advance of working on the current crop of EVs, and 3) current non-EV engineers could also apply to transfer to EVs.

It could also signal an existing engrained culture of teams seeing EVs as extensions of their ICE platforms as a way of burying costs under an existing cost centre, something Farley wants to put an end to?

That was a part of the old way of doing business when the cost of an all new product couldn’t be justified but seems to have become the norm as a way of sliding “new vehicles” past the accountants..
 

Edited March 9, 2022 by jpd80

[rperez817]

40 minutes ago, jpd80 said:

It could also signal an existing engrained culture of teams seeing EVs as extensions of their ICE platforms as a way of burying costs under an existing cost centre, something Farley wants to put an end to?

 

Most definitely jpd80. This is a perfect example of Ford's historically dysfunctional organizational culture. To be competitive with BEV design and engineering, Ford must revamp those operations so that they aren't hampered by legacy ICE baggage. Ford's corporate split into Model e and Blue divisions is a great start to solving this organizational problem.

Edited March 9, 2022 by rperez817

[FlyHighCrue]

On 11/17/2021 at 7:32 AM, balthisar said:

I've got a Mustang Mach E in addition to my older Expedition. It's a fantastic daily driver and has excellent range for 95% of my miles. That remaining 5% usually involves driving to Chicago or Louisville, and while it's not as easy as pulling into a random gas station, it's certainly manageable. If I didn't need a second Expedition-class vehicle anyway, I could see myself being EV-only, and renting an ICE for long road trips for the near future. It won't be any different than renting a Home Depot truck instead of piling bags of manure into the back of my Expedition.

 

Although I've got a 2022 on order and plan on keeping it as long as I've had my 2004, I'm going to be really interested to see what the inevitable future all electric Expedition brings. On Sunday I ran into two big, giant electric Hummers at the St. Clair Shores, Michigan, Electrify America charging station. They were both plugged in to 350 kva chargers, and the one next to my Mach E was pulling 290 kva at 83%. If I could get that in the Mach E, then I'd be good to go in 10 minutes. In any case, by time the electric Expedition is available, I'm hopeful that there will be a whole lot more charging infrastructure. My Mach E is perfect for its use cases, but I pull a trailer and take long road trips with the Expedition.

 

 

I know this is somewhat off-topic, but I heard the reason Ford opted for slower charging was for battery longevity. This may or may not be because the 100k mile warranty. 

 

In any case, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm waiting on my Mach-E and I'm already having range anxiety. I think I will be using it in a similar way to you as I don't go on too many road trips but if I do, renting an ICE is always an option. 

[Lawrence G]

On 11/17/2021 at 6:12 AM, rperez817 said:

 

My wife and I have 2 BEV. A 2018 Tesla Model S I bought used, and a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E (my wife's car) that we pre-ordered and bought new.

 

Future Maverick EV or Ranger EV will be what my family's landscaping business buys for its next work truck, after the 2019 Ranger we have now is ready for replacement.

I am also changing the home fleet to all eletric. All the incentives make it worth it and hopefully will get better this year if certain bills pass. 

[FordBuyer]

18 minutes ago, Lawrence G said:

I am also changing the home fleet to all eletric. All the incentives make it worth it and hopefully will get better this year if certain bills pass. 

 

Yeah, I hope fleet, commercial buyers move to BEV way before high income luxury buyers that drive under 10,000 miles/year do. That will help the environment significantly more than the well to do not driving for a living. So bring on Ford Pro and Transit E van. That is Ford's bread and butter anyway. 

 

Delivery trucks go up and down are street everyday including weekends. So will be nice to start seeing E vans in a couple years maybe. 

[rperez817]

On 2/12/2022 at 1:38 PM, rperez817 said:

Another big milestone in Ford's transition to an all-electric future took place earlier this week. The first batch of E-Transit vans produced at Kansas City Assembly Plant are now on their way to customers. Built for America, Ready for Work: Ford Pro™ Begins Shipping Electric E-Transit to Customers, Works to Boost Production | Ford Media Center

 

Following the successful launch of E-Transit in North America, the first production E-Transits assembled at the Ford Otosan plant in Turkey are now being shipped to customers in Europe. Ford Pro Ready to Electrify Business Productivity in Europe as First E-Transit Models Roll Off Production Line | Ford Media Center