I think the advance of battery technology will make that disparity a short term phenomena. As soon as the gap in price between 'small' and 'large' EV batteries narrows, consumers will opt for larger vehicles with longer range even if they are still somewhat more expensive. As I said it may be true short-term but I don't expect it to be the norm in the future. Battery technology is advancing to fast.
Good post.
And it’s the exact reason that Ford needs to pivot away from an over reliance on T3 mass roll out.
Not a criticism of Ford but a big discovery of the new reality of battery cost vs vehicle size/profit.
Where exactly is the sweet spot, is it compacts or perhaps a well designed mid sized?
Vehicle design and space efficiency are going to be big factors going forward
and you’re right, a whole rethink of how Ford and buyers perceive vehicles.
Wondering about midsize because Maverick’s interior room is pretty close to Ranger but it’s a lot lighter,
maybe that example of C2 space efficiency will shine a light or be a eureka moment for Ford BEVs.
We should be optimistic about Ford’s success/failures, early days and still getting things right while
ICE sales are still strong and support the company. It’s not like mass BEVs are needed tomorrow…..
Perhaps, but isn't GE2 dead in the water to a degree? At least for the mustang, it seems like the logical choice is to develop an all new scalable architecture that can underpin everything from pure ICE, to hybrid and EVs, something the current platform can't do according to insiders.
He’s exactly right. What is the cost difference between a v8 drivetrain in a F150 and an ecoboost I4 in a Maverick? $2k? $5k? The difference between a small battery pack and a huge one is more like $20k to get the same range and performance. Thats a $20k premium (or more) on top of the actual vehicle cost. So whereas today there might be a $10k difference between a Ranger and f150, with EVs that might be $25k just for the larger size with no increase in range or performance.
The cost will come down over time but the difference remains. It’s an interesting dynamic.
I have a hunch Farley will be proven wrong about margins and customer preferences regarding EV's long term. Short term this may succeed, but Ford will have a ton of competition.
Part of Ford's quality nightmare because is the best and brightest in the company are all on the unprofitable EV side.
I'm sure they'll have a product there, maybe they just want to move on from Mach E branding, thus no second gen, but there'll be an adjacent product?
It'll be interesting to see where they source materials from though - I forsee screws getting tightened on all things Chinese.