{"id":17551,"date":"2024-09-02T21:54:06","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T01:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/?p=17551"},"modified":"2024-09-08T15:09:30","modified_gmt":"2024-09-08T19:09:30","slug":"ford-scraps-all-electric-suv-plan-saying-drivers-want-hybrids-in-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2024\/09\/02\/ford-scraps-all-electric-suv-plan-saying-drivers-want-hybrids-in-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford scraps all-electric SUV plan, saying drivers want hybrids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019re a potential family car customer who\u2019s holding off on buying an electric vehicle because of high prices and road trip anxiety<\/a>, Ford is thinking about you. In fact, the automaker is hedging its electric vehicle plans, betting that most consumers would rather buy a hybrid than a full EV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you look at the three-row SUV, hybrid technologies or multiple propulsion technologies, for those customers, is the best solution.,\u201d John Lawler, Ford vice chair and chief financial officer, said on Wednesday in a conference call with journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ford, which is the No. 2 U.S. EV company, had been working to produce an all-electric three-row SUV. But it tapped the brakes on that vehicle earlier this year, and now, Lawler and Ford say, it\u2019s stalled. Instead, Ford will offer hybrid versions of the SUVs. The next EVs in its pipeline are now pickup trucks and commercial vans \u2014 areas where Lawler sees a competitive edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ford says all its new vehicles must make a profit in 12 months<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The strategic shift reflects Ford\u2019s new requirement for any vehicle to become profitable within 12 months after its launch date \u2014 a tall hurdle for an all-electric three-row SUV. Add that to an EV market that\u2019s been cooling on the consumer side even as businesses ramp up their offerings and competitive pressures, and Ford\u2019s leadership saw fit to change course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re seeing a tremendous amount of competition\u201d in the SUV segment, Lawler said. \u201cIn fact, S&P Global \u2026 said that there’s about 143 EVs in the pipeline right now for North America \u2014 and most of those are two-row and three-row SUVs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change comes as Ford tries to flip the numbers around on EVs. As NPR reported earlier this year, the company has been losing money on every EV it sells<\/a>. It\u2019s had to scale back sales projections as it prepares for more changes, including an anticipated wave of new Chinese competitors. The company says it\u2019s still working on producing a smaller car, for instance. And it\u2019s moving battery production to North America<\/a> to let it take advantage of production and consumer incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spiking the SUV EV comes with a cost: Ford says it will take a \u201cspecial non-cash charge of about $400 million for the write-down\u201d related to manufacturing assets, with additional expenses possibly rising up to $1.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ford will keep selling its current fully electric vehicles \u2014 the Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning pickup, along with commercial vans. The company isn\u2019t yet saying whether it will offer plug-in hybrid SUVs. But the switch from EV to hybrid SUVs could ease the strain on its bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all about battery size<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith EVs, it’s all about the battery,\u201d Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, told NPR. Depending on the variables, she added, batteries can account for up to 40% to 45% of a vehicle\u2019s cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s particularly true for a big SUV with long range. For carmakers, shifting from full EV to hybrid offers more wiggle room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you can take down the battery size, whether it’s a plug-in or some type of extended-range type vehicle \u2014 on these larger vehicles, like a three-row SUV, the profit profile is better,\u201d Lawler said. \u201cBecause \u2026 the cost of the battery is so outsized for vehicles like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streaty says the equation will change a bit as battery technology advances. But she also says consumers may simply need to evaluate how much range they really need \u2014 and get used to the idea that a bigger battery means a bigger price tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat’s why I think plug-in hybrids are a good option for consumers who want to go electric, but really need to have that option to [also use] gas if they need to go on a long trip,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the changes announced by Ford, the carmaker isn\u2019t alone in adjusting its plans, Streaty said, noting that GM and Tesla have also seen production cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere’s still consumer demand,\u201d Streaty said. \u201cWe had a record quarter last year for EVs in the U.S., but the pace of growth is slowed down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the big thing is, this should be expected. Pure battery electric transition is hard, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmakers like Ford, she said, must track a moving target as they try to match consumer demand. That ranges from manufacturing and charging infrastructure to consumers adapting to a different car ownership experience, Streaty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re going to have ups and downs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Chappell, B. (2024, August 21). Ford scraps all-electric SUV plan, saying drivers want hybrids<\/em>. NPR. https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/08\/21\/nx-s1-5084230\/ford-electric-suv-hybrids<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

While it might be nice for customers on a budget to have a more affordable option in a hybrid due to its smaller battery size, it seems like the main reason Ford scrapped the all electric SUV idea is because they were intimidated by the competition and not the wellbeing of its customers (and definitely not the environment). As automotive companies move toward electric vehicles in pursuit of profit and the facade of environmental concern, new problems are arising and old ones are getting a fresh coat of paint. As we continue to focus on car-centered infrastructure instead of public transportation, the car industry holds a monopoly on the freedom of travel. Traffic will continue to congest streets everywhere. Copper will have to be mined exponentially more to support the electric vehicle components and keep up with new demand to electrify everything. While the environmental impact of EVs will be lesser, there are still more steps that need to be taken to slow climate change enough to mitigate its impact significantly. It’s important to keep in mind that the culture is changing and people are becoming more aware of their carbon footprint as I design for my capstone project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re a potential family car customer who\u2019s holding off on buying an electric vehicle because of high prices and road trip anxiety, Ford is thinking about you. In fact, the automaker is hedging its electric vehicle plans, betting that most consumers would rather buy a hybrid than a full EV. \u201cWhen you look at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":18432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17551"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18436,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17551\/revisions\/18436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}