Ford Universal Electric Platform

[twintornados]

4 minutes ago, DeluxeStang said:

Exactly, you nailed it. I love a V8 mustang for weekend cruising, I'm strongly considering a gt 350. But most people don't want to live with a car like that every day. For weekly driving, I just want something easy, refined, that makes life less stressful, EVs are perfect for that, give me a nice EV to commute in, and a mustang to enjoy on the weekends. 

 

You sure you wouldn't want a Porsche Boxster?? A certain moderator likes 'em a lot....

[DeluxeStang]

7 minutes ago, twintornados said:

 

You sure you wouldn't want a Porsche Boxster?? A certain moderator likes 'em a lot....

😂 To be fair, I'm just happy he likes in. He has good taste in colors as well, you don't see a ton of Porsche models in red, so it's unique. I'm a fan of fun cars being painted fun colors, I can't stand it when someone gets a sports car in like silver lol. 

[Sherminator98]

20 minutes ago, Biker16 said:

 
Tariffs will ensure prices will remain disconnected from costs.

 

One of the points of having a tariff is move production back to the United States at least for the North American market. 

[rmc523]

49 minutes ago, blazerdude20 said:

Correct but in a competitive environment, some of that savings very well may be “passed” back to the consumer. Ford saves $5k per vehicle, they price it 1-1.5k lower. They still make more per unit and can sell more units because the sale price undercuts competition. 

 

Yes, that's very true.

 

42 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

You see that all the time on social media with EV threads. 

 

People are far too hung up on their 2 foot view to actually look at things objectively and take everything too personally. 

 

I totally get why someone like having a V8 and a manual transmission-but for everyday use that isn't the best idea for average driver.

 

I got a to take out a Cobra replica for a drive years back-was a blast to drive-I felt like I was driving a road going go kart and was completely unrefined, but was a blast to drive anyways-but I sure as hell don't want to deal with that every day. 

 

I loved my '18 convertible Mustang GT, and it worked most of the time as a commuter vehicle for me, but there were definitely times where it was impractical when needing to carry people or stuff.

Bronco allowed me to recreate the convertible in a far more practical vehicle.......I miss the ease of putting the top down (Bronco isn't hard but it's a process) and the glorious V8 noises, though lol.

[T-dubz]

A lot of EVs, at least in the US, are either unappealing (Bolt, leaf, ID4, etc) or too expensive. Tesla 3 and Y aren’t the best looking, but they looked better than the appliance EVs and had features (ex sentry mode) that you couldn’t get on other models, all at a price that was more reasonable. None of the EVs on the market today make me say “I gotta have that” and also have a reasonable price. 
 

The only EV that I’m currently excited for is the Rivian R2. Maybe the Scouts, but I’m sure they will be expensive. Maybe these ford’s will make the list once they decide to show them.

[rmc523]

 

48 minutes ago, Rick73 said:

For Ford and other manufacturers to remain in business they have to build vehicles that are possible today, not in 5 or 10 years.

 

I love future possibilities and planning accordingly but businesses have to generate income now to have any chance of making future dreams come true.

 

Huh??????????  Vehicle design cycles are at least 3-5 years out usually.

 

Again, anything is impossible until it isn't.  Remember we're also talking about a product that's 2 years away too.

 

You said "big EVs can't be made affordable for the masses".  Why can Ford not take the learnings from CE1 and apply it to the large models?  Why would the same efforts to reduce costs and prices not apply to the larger vehicles, making them more affordable for the masses?  T3 has been pushed back at least 3 years out, presumably to bring prices down in the future with CE1 insights.

 

Ford has chosen to push back their large stuff because it's expensive now, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

Edited August 13 by rmc523

[akirby]

1 hour ago, twintornados said:

 

You sure you wouldn't want a Porsche Boxster?? A certain moderator likes 'em a lot....

Sherminator got a Boxster? 😂😂😂

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, T-dubz said:

A lot of EVs, at least in the US, are either unappealing (Bolt, leaf, ID4, etc) or too expensive. Tesla 3 and Y aren’t the best looking, but they looked better than the appliance EVs and had features (ex sentry mode) that you couldn’t get on other models, all at a price that was more reasonable. None of the EVs on the market today make me say “I gotta have that” and also have a reasonable price. 
 

The only EV that I’m currently excited for is the Rivian R2. Maybe the Scouts, but I’m sure they will be expensive. Maybe these ford’s will make the list once they decide to show them.

Exactly, Ford is the best brand in the world when it comes to affordable aspirational products, dream cars you can realistically afford. If they're bringing that energy into this new line of affordable EVs, I'll be incredibly excited. It seems like that's the case just based off the few details we do have. 

 

Who knows, they could end up screwing it all up, maybe the quality is bad, or the range is like 150 miles, or it's a three row situation where they chased aero so hard that the truck looks terrible. But I'm rooting for them, because fun, affordable, aspirational products are what the industry needs more than anything else right now. 

 

Based on what Farley is saying, it sounds like the team trying to take a no compromises approach. He said how these vehicles would delight customers in terms of things like design, space, cost of ownership and being fun to drive, I sincerely hope he's right. I really want to see this truck and be like, that's the coolest looking truck I've ever seen, and I can actually afford it. 

 

If it nails the design, price, and unique factor, I'm buying one without a doubt, even if the range is a little lower like 200-250 miles. 

[mackinaw]

5 hours ago, morgan20 said:

...If Ford Universal Electric Vehicle Platform and Production System are as revolutionary as the big shots claim, pricing on UEP vehicles should go down over time like the Model T.......

 

This could happen.  If you believe what you read, battery prices are slowly coming down, so you'd expect vehicle prices to come down too.  And, like the Motel T assembly line, Ford will probably find additional efficiencies with this new three-stage assembly which could eventually translate to reduced pricing.  

[Biker16]

3 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

One of the points of having a tariff is move production back to the United States at least for the North American market. 

Onshoring is a choice; every consumer product doesn't have to be built in the US.

I was referring to the impact of preventing the sale of Chinese-made EVs in the US, which will reduce competitive pressure on prices. This is what has happened under the Chicken Tax, to trucks, I'd expect the same thing to happen with protectionist policies for EVs.

[akirby]

3 hours ago, Biker16 said:

Onshoring is a choice; every consumer product doesn't have to be built in the US.

I was referring to the impact of preventing the sale of Chinese-made EVs in the US, which will reduce competitive pressure on prices. This is what has happened under the Chicken Tax, to trucks, I'd expect the same thing to happen with protectionist policies for EVs.

You’re assuming that a U.S. built EV can compete with BYD pricing and still turn a profit.  Even though the Chinese gov’t clearly subsidizes them.  You’re also ignoring the huge inequity in balance of trade with China.

 

A free market can’t compete with foreign governments that rig the game.

[twintornados]

6 hours ago, akirby said:

Sherminator got a Boxster? 😂😂😂

 

That lucky bas-tid!!

[morgan20]

57 minutes ago, akirby said:

You’re assuming that a U.S. built EV can compete with BYD pricing and still turn a profit.  Even though the Chinese gov’t clearly subsidizes them.  You’re also ignoring the huge inequity in balance of trade with China.

 

A free market can’t compete with foreign governments that rig the game.

I think what Biker16 is gettin' at is that protectionist policies at home further rig the game, reducing choice and increasing prices for American consumers. Long term, those protectionist policies are bad news for American automakers too.

 

Ford's head honcho says he ain't depending on the U.S. government:

 

U.S. tariffs of 100% on Chinese EVs keep BYD’s Seagull out of showrooms for now. But Jim Farley knows policy winds shift. Axios quotes him saying Ford must match costs, not count on customs. If Chinese brands assemble cars in Mexico or source components through third countries, the price war lands on our doorstep anyway.

 

For Jim Farley, this is personal and professional. He staked his tenure on making Ford a credible EV player.  If he can compress development cycles to Chinese speeds and squeeze Detroit’s cost base, he secures Ford’s next century. If not, the BYD teardown becomes the moment we all should have seen coming.

 

Jim Farley isn’t just sounding alarms, he’s rewriting the whole company. Now the question is how fast Ford can run.

[akirby]

46 minutes ago, morgan20 said:

I think what Biker16 is gettin' at is that protectionist policies at home further rig the game, reducing choice and increasing prices for American consumers. Long term, those protectionist policies are bad news for American automakers too.

 

In some cases, yes.   The chicken tax absolutely allowed Ford, GM and Dodge to charge more for their trucks.  Until Toyota and Nissan built plants in the U.S.

 

These aren’t supposed to be permanent tariffs.  If China drops their tariffs and other trade restrictions then we drop ours.  If China restricts our exports and charges big tariffs why should we allow them to import freely?  Make more stuff here like the Japanese did with trucks.

[Sherminator98]

Keep in mind Globalization as we know it now is going away and the Chinese are on borrowed time demographically...but that is a longer term thing and there are other things short term that will make trading with the Chinese "problematic" 

[rmc523]

Upcoming Ford EV Pickup May Utilize Mach-E's NMC Battery

 

According to InsideEVs, the future Ford EV pickup will support not only LFP batteries built at BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, but also, the nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) chemistry. This is a common strategy in today’s electric vehicles, with the cheaper, standard range models getting LFP units, while longer-range versions are typically equipped with more energy dense batteries. This is true of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, in fact, and in that case, it’s possible that the future Ford EV pickup may share an NMC battery with it, too.

[twintornados]

I've said it before....with the elimination of the federal tax credit, you will begin to see real innovation in the EV markets as manufacturers cannot rely on the credit as a "price crutch" to move vehicles. Ford's solution is the first one out of the gate. 

[Schpark]

20 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

😂 To be fair, I'm just happy he likes in. He has good taste in colors as well, you don't see a ton of Porsche models in red, so it's unique. I'm a fan of fun cars being painted fun colors, I can't stand it when someone gets a sports car in like silver lol. 

Except for an Astin Martin DB5 where silver is "the only" color to get.

[DeluxeStang]

9 minutes ago, Schpark said:

Except for an Astin Martin DB5 where silver is "the only" color to get.

Ok, you got me there. Or a lotus esprit in white. 

[Sherminator98]

Here’s What Ford’s New $30,000 EV Truck Could Look Like

[Biker16]

13 hours ago, akirby said:

You’re assuming that a U.S. built EV can compete with BYD pricing and still turn a profit.  Even though the Chinese gov’t clearly subsidizes them.  You’re also ignoring the huge inequity in balance of trade with China.

 

A free market can’t compete with foreign governments that rig the game.

Chinese subsidies are not what they used to be, and shouldn't used as an Excuse to prevent them form entering the US market.

 

11 hours ago, akirby said:

In some cases, yes.   The chicken tax absolutely allowed Ford, GM and Dodge to charge more for their trucks.  Until Toyota and Nissan built plants in the U.S.

 

These aren’t supposed to be permanent tariffs.  If China drops their tariffs and other trade restrictions then we drop ours.  If China restricts our exports and charges big tariffs why should we allow them to import freely?  Make more stuff here like the Japanese did with trucks.

 

True, the one Caveat is that the Japanese were never able to threaten the Big 3 with Volume, and instead have priced their truck above that of the Big 3, indicating that they are also benefiting from the Chicken Tax, and have no intention of lowering prices in the Segment.

 

3 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

Keep in mind Globalization as we know it now is going away and the Chinese are on borrowed time demographically...but that is a longer term thing and there are other things short term that will make trading with the Chinese "problematic" 

I think that Reshoring of Manufacturing will be more about Automation and less about employment.

[Captainp4]

Well the design and assembly process is almost exactly how Tesla does it, so that's a good first step on efficiency on that end. Use of less fasteners, less bolts, less wiring. All adds up to faster/cheaper/more efficient. All things Farley said when they first announced this skunkworks thing and I said it sounded like they were trying to emulate the way Tesla was doing things. (Elon and Jim were pretty friendly on X/twitter back then, I'm assuming Jim has distanced himself over the last year or so for pr reasons, but)

Saying it doesn't need more than 400v charging implies a smaller battery pack, which is a good sign on aero/weight end of efficiency. I think the standard range model 3 is 50-60kw and does ~250 miles, something like that would be fine for the entry model. I'm sure they'll offer larger packs as well (for more money obviously)

Everything is sounding good to me so far on the back end, just need to see the actual product and some specs... hopefully they nail it.
 

[Sherminator98]

36 minutes ago, Biker16 said:

I think that Reshoring of Manufacturing will be more about Automation and less about employment.

 

Given the demographics of the world, that isn't a bad thing 

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, Sherminator98 said:

Here’s What Ford’s New $30,000 EV Truck Could Look Like

I don't think it'll really look like a maverick. It might be close to a maverick in size, but the design will be completely unique. It's been described as being very sleek and aerodynamic, which aren't words I'd ever use to describe the maverick even as a maverick owner. 

 

I know before anyone says it that yes, you can't make out a ton in this photo, but this is from that vid of employees being shown the truck. This could be it, or it could be another product all together, but this is the room the truck was shown in, so who knows. 

 

If this is the truck, you can see the a-pillar and height of the roof. It looks lower and sleeker than a maverick. But then again, that could be the roof of like a car, who knows at this point 😂. 

[akirby]

2 hours ago, Biker16 said:

True, the one Caveat is that the Japanese were never able to threaten the Big 3 with  volume

Low volume?  Really?