Clean Tech News & Views: EVs, Solar Energy, Batteries
the other day portraying Ford CEO Jim Farley as having just woken up after a long multi-year nap, particularly regarding Chinese electric vehicles and the EV transition. Having covered Ford quite closely over the past several years, and having talked to Ford reps about these and related matters, I have a different take on it. I’m going to explain that here, but I also plan to dive deeper into the company and its EV work in the coming week or so to talk about where it goes from here.
Way back in the day, when the Nissan LEAF was the EV market leader, Ford’s foray into electric vehicles was the Ford Focus Electric, a rather lame “compliance car” attempt at an EV. I remember a video showing how they just came up with the idea for where to place the batteries by sticking some cardboard boxes in the trunk. Needless to say, the Ford Focus Electric was not a top seller.
Then there was the Ford F-150 Lightning, which I thought was a smart and aggressive move. Tesla was going to be bringing the Cybertruck to market, and Ford got the Lightning out much earlier with solid capability and pricing. Again, the F-150 Lightning could be considered a success, but it’s true that Ford still doesn’t have the huge electric vehicle demand that Tesla has, and the sci-fi Cybertruck is now outselling it. Though, I wouldn’t bet against the Lightning winning in the long term.
“John, this is an existential threat,” Farley told Ford board member and former Goldman Sachs executive John Thornton after his trip. ” a Ford rep told me today. Furthermore, “Ford is the first OEM to license technology from CATL to manufacture LFP batteries in the US. You can read more of itAgain, I don’t see this China trip as a wakeup call for Farley. I see it as him trying to make his case for why Ford has to keep focusing on EVs and trying to lead on EVs in the US. That’s just my take. Others are free to be more skeptical, but that’s not how I’m seeing this.
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