How Ford

“We’re doing so many new things, I can’t tell you with 100% certainty that this will all go just right,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said this week in Kentucky as his team unveiled a bold new plan for affordable electric vehicles. “It is a bet. There is risk. The automotive industry has a graveyard littered with affordable vehicles that were launched in our country with all good intentions.”

In general, I appreciate Farley for his candor. Everything he said there is correct. And it’s a good way to frame the biggest change in how Ford builds cars since Henry founded the place. But Farley’s also been candid that if Ford, and the whole auto industry, keep on with business as usual, China’s advanced electric car industry is gonna eat them all for breakfast. 

You’ve probably heard about Ford’s bold new $30,000 EV truck and manufacturing plans all week, but now you get to literally hear about it on this week’s Plugged-In Podcast. But it’s not just me and Tim Levin analyzing the news (though there’s plenty of that): we’re also joined by ace reporter Suvrat Kothari, who was on the ground in Kentucky to cover the announcement.

There’s a lot to unpack about this EV project, from the truck itself to Ford’s groundbreaking new “assembly tree” process to the radical efforts used to simplify all of the above. It comes down to cost: Tesla figured out how to make EVs at scale profitably, and then China Inc. ran with those ideas. Retrofitting a gas truck or crossover with batteries won’t cut it anymore. Now, Ford’s employing a lot of stuff we’ve covered over the years: gigacasting, software-defined vehicles, zonal architectures, the whole nine yards. And in a mass-produced truck with a decent price tag and Maverick vibes.

I think it’s promising, but as ever—we’ll see if Ford can do it. As we discuss, reactions to this were more mixed than expected, possibly due to the glut of undelivered EV promises across the industry. Can this time be different?

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And we’re looking to answer more listener questions on the show! Drop your burning questions about EVs, EV buying and the future of transportation below, or email us at podcast@insideevs.com. 

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com