Ford didn't change that on the refreshed Escape
Engine start button is still angled that way on refreshed Escape with the 8" screen:
With the 13.2" screen, engine start button is located in the lower part of the dash, just as on the pre-refresh Escape:
Don't forget daycare. In most young heterosexual families, married or not, both are wage earners by choice, necessitating daycare for one or more children. Even if one or both can work from home, it is non productive to have preschool age children at home all day. Licensed daycare runs $2-400 per week for one child and less for each additional child in my area. That's an Explorer payment. One place in a toney suburb where one of my daughter's family lives, is $2600/mo. no discounts, but the tykes can learn Spanish.
I finally drove my Mom's 2020 Escape-I was cracking up because it was about 90-95% identical (IMO) to my wife's 2024 Bronco Sport in feel and interior materials. The ride was slightly softer (longer wheelbase) but otherwise there really wasn't much different between them.
The thing that annoyed the living crap out of me was the piss poor placement of the engine start button, it was placed on the side of the center console at nearly 90 angle to the driver...I saw Ford relocated it to the lower part of the dash on the refresh.
IMO you have identified the reason for the Tahoe's success. If Ford offered a V-8 in 150 or Expy they would do better. And to take that one step further make that a 6.8/7.3. I think the complexity of the Ecoboosts, as well as the Coyote scare some departments away vs the simplicity of the GM V-8's.
Again were talking about Tahoe vs 150/Expy. No doubt in most services the "new" Explorer does the job.
Supply Chain for EV manufacturing is concentrated in China. That's why BYD and them other Chinese automakers are such fierce competition to Ford.
Ford's big shots are doin' what they know best when it comes to supplier relations: beat the shit out of them for cost reduction. The supply chain big shot at Ford, Liz Door, said the following in a letter to suppliers:
We have all invested heavily in the success of the EV business, and we will all win or lose together. To enable affordability, it is of paramount importance that our EV portfolio achieves further levels of material cost efficiency. We need your best ideas to drive cost reduction, even if they have been previously rejected by Ford.
Because you can't just flip a switch and make it happen like that. There is no supply chain built up for EV manufacturing like there is for ICE products
Batteries are expensive now, but prices are coming down because the supply of them is increasing (economics 101), due to having more battery plants making them.
Ford needs another assembly plant (IMO which eventually lead to another being closed) to transition to making EVs because it allowed for the battery plants and other things to be built locally with it instead of being stuck with the configuration of existing plant that might not have the room to have a battery plant or whatever near it.
There is no doubt fixed costs have been incredibly high to set up EV manufacturing, but in fairness to those who question EV prices, I think they are most likely referring more so to variable costs which still make EV costs higher than what most buyers are willing or are able to pay. Looking at it differently, even if manufacturing and battery plants were paid for, as were design and development, building EVs must still be too expensive. If this wasn’t the case, why wouldn’t Ford and other companies build as many as possible on their existing equipment that is already operational? If you already have the plants and capacity, why not utilize them fully at 100% capacity unless the company loses more money the more vehicles they make? Just questioning if blaming capital investment is not avoiding the other half of the problem. And to save a few of you time, yes, I know that’s what Skunkworks is working on — a design that can be built much cheaper. I hope they succeed, but objectively believe it’s a big ask.
Hey everyone. You may or may not remember me, but my account was "Ares". Unfortunately, I lost my login information and no longer have access to my old email. That's alright, I'll just start fresh.
Still a Ford and Lincoln fan and love the community and discussion here.
Here's to the future,
Matt25