Ford scales back on EV ambitions in favour of mixed-fuel strategy
Ford is planning on moving back their earlier EV ambitions and go 50 per cent hybrids and long-range EVs by 2030 to meet their carbon neutral goals.
New Delhi: The Automobile industry is all the time trying to figure out how to meet customer demands. A few years ago, most automakers were aggressively going after electric vehicles, but consumer costs, infrastructure improvement needs and many other factors have led to a change from the global manufacturers.
Just like many, Ford too is going back on their pure EV ambitions and instead favouring a mixed-fuel strategy that will include many more hybrid options in their portfolio. At present, the hybrid and EVs make up just 17 per cent of the portfolio, but by 2030, the brand wants to have 50 per cent in their line to be EV or hybrid.
This expansion will come on the back of the forthcoming Universal EV Platform, as well as a larger number of hybrid and extended-range EV offerings.
How different Ford’s portfolio will start to look
Ford’s forthcoming EV platform is designed to be able to support more efficient and cost-effective electric vehicles. The first off the line will be a mid-size electric pickup truck scheduled to go into production in 2027. Then there is the newly announced F-150 Lightning EREV, which is expected to have an estimated driving range of around 700 miles, making it equally important.
This is all part of the revision to the Ford+ plan. The brand is looking to reduce the number of products that are giving low returns and move towards the ones that bring them revenue. Bigger EVs, like the current-gen Lighting and e-Transit, don’t have a huge demand. It makes sense that they are moving their focus for production towards vehicles that can bring them the money.
Instead of making a new electric commercial van, Ford will offer a less-expensive van with an option of ICE or hybrid powertrains. In fact, Ford says that they will launch five new affordable vehicles by the end of the decade. The existing lineup will have ICE, hybrid or extended-range electric options for almost every vehicle in the line.
Ford will come to strengthen their business by entering the energy storage solutions market. As the automaker no longer needs as large-scale battery production as it was planned originally, they will redirect part of their battery manufacturing capacity toward developing energy storage solutions for data centres and broader infrastructure needs.
The plan also includes a storage system solution in terms of residential energy requirements. All of this does work well towards Ford’s goals of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The priority remains to go green at the first chance and what will make them money as well.