I’ll give Farley 10/10 for effort trying to convince people but he’s right, buyers will make up their own mind
and no amount of pressure will force people into vehicles they are not comfortable owning. Saying things
is not enough, a bridge needs to be built to full Electric Vehicle ownership.
BEVs are the future but I think that Ford has a lot of room with HEV, PHEV & Super Hybrids to introduce more
buyers to the virtues of Electrified vehicles, that’s a necessary prerequisite to get a bigger migration volume
to BEVs. It can be done but I think Jim Farley needs to really get going or Ford will miss the moment.
Maybe a Ford vehicle like the BYD Shark 6 points the way, a powerful Super Hybrid with range extender?
This is from the weekly Hagerty newsletter. Apparently Farley was recently on some podcast. His comments on sedans:
“I do not like generic cars and trucks,” said Farley as he railed against “appliance-like vehicles” while defending Ford’s decision to leave the sedan market. It’s a segment that Ford hasn’t completely written off for good, and he noted that there are good reasons to keep them in mind. “The bottom line is sedans are very aero[dynamic]. In a world where batteries are expensive,” Farley noted. “A sedan or a hatch is a great silhouette for aero.”
Farley didn’t commit to any future products, but did say, “If we do one, it’s probably gonna feel, look, and smell a lot different” than current offerings. One vintage nameplate he brought up was Fiesta, mentioning that Ford could make a more premium compact car relevant in the market."
https://www.hagerty.com/media/lists/five-classic-car-nameplates-that-deserve-a-comeback/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_NA_EML_UN_UN_WeekendRoadTrip&hashed_email=5dc7f32ef3ae7ed02589eb7a9225ee577803bd2e44dd34e74133567fec781301&dtm_em=5dc7f32ef3ae7ed02589eb7a9225ee577803bd2e44dd34e74133567fec781301
I’m going out on a limb here..
If Ford was to create its own super hybrid, it could add either 2.0 EB or 2.0 turbo diesel to the Lightning and achieve a near perfect combination of fuel and electric power…it could also be a brilliant repurposing of the current Lightning once the next Gen BEV F150 arrives…
I love how technology develops to a point when manufacturers begin exploring vehicles that were rejected in the past as being inadequate or not appealing to customers. Hopefully, we get to see a new round of hybrids that make a lot of sense to buyers where maybe a full BEV is still seen as compromised..
You can be quite the wordsmith at times, but how does this describe YOUR ICE F-150? No stopping at gas stations? Frunk storage? No more oil/coolant/trans fluid changes. What, once it runs out of gas you'll just leave it where it dies?
HRG
In other words, a series hybrid that eliminates direct drive of the gas engine to the wheels.
It’s interesting because as a Kirby says, the gas engine is basically a range extender and normally,
critics would jump in and say no no no, the gas engine must drive the wheels to keep up efficiency.
DeluxeStang is also correct in that the gasoline engine adding power to the electric side means it can
be adjusted to run in its most efficient power band avoiding excessively rich fuel mixtures.
This looks like the point where a super hybrid could be based on a BEV design as a kind of reach down
to include an ICE version where long range with little no charging is required (ideal for remote areas)
1.5 ICE Gasoline max output 135 Kw/260 mn or 180 Hp/192 lb ft.
New Zealand YouTube review
Something else came to me. So replacing the engine air filter was something we were planning on doing in the near future, our dealership actually brought it up during our most recent service. Apparently, a dirty/clogged engine air filter can lead to the stuttered acceleration/rough transmission shifts I mentioned.
I'm gonna try swapping the filter out in a few days and see if that improves things. It's been very difficult to pin down exactly what this is, because it's very inconsistent. There are drives where it won't do it at all, and others where it will do it multiple times in the span of a few minutes. In theory, this is a good thing.
I'm not as well mechanically versed as many of you, still learning there, but one would think if there was some massive issue with the transmission, it would be having this issue everytime it shifts, it doesn't, it's once every few dozen/hundred shifts but it's getting more common.
So in theory, it should be something pretty minor.