{"id":74889,"date":"2024-07-26T17:20:16","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T21:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=74889"},"modified":"2024-07-26T17:20:16","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T21:20:16","slug":"ford-compares-new-low-cost-ev-platform-rivian-tesla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=74889","title":{"rendered":"Ford compares new low-cost EV platform to Rivian and Tesla, says rivals will turn to China"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"Ford-low-cost-EV-Rivian\"<\/figure>\n

Ford is betting on smaller electric cars as the future. Its \u201cSkunkworks \u201d team is not so small, and now that the cat is out of the bag, we are learning more about Ford\u2019s<\/a> new affordable platform. Ford CEO Jim Farley compared its new low-cost EV platform to Rivian and Tesla. However, Farley suggested Ford\u2019s could be even better and cheaper.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Farley revealed the Skunkworks team was developing a low-cost EV platform<\/a> for its next-gen EVs in February on a media call with investors.<\/p>\n

Although it was a small group, Farley promised it included \u201csome of the best EV engineers in the world.\u201d The team is led by Alan Clarke, known for his work with Tesla\u2019s Model Y. <\/p>\n

Over the past several months, Ford has added<\/a> about 50 ex-Rivian employees, over 20 from Tesla, another 20 from Lucid, and several from Apple. Ford has also hired talent from eVTOL leaders like Archer Aviation, Joby, and Hyundai\u2019s Supernal.<\/p>\n

Farley explained earlier this year that the team is \u201cengineering a completely different approach, a different product at a different cost with a much smaller battery and different chemistry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford has already said the platform will support several different types of vehicles. On Ford\u2019s Q2 earnings<\/a> call this week, Farley gave us more insights on what to expect.<\/p>\n

\"Ford-low-cost-EV-Rivian\"
Ford Mustang Mach-E (Source: Ford)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ford says its low-cost EV platform is like Rivian, Tesla<\/h2>\n

Although the \u201cEV journey has been humbling,\u201d Farley said he\u2019s happy the company started 2.5 years ago because it will use what it learned over that time to improve its next-gen EVs.<\/p>\n

Ford, alongside Rivian and Tesla, are \u201cthe only OEMs outside of China controlling software across all the vehicle domain,\u201d Farley said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Ford-low-cost-EV-Rivian\"
Ford F-150 Lightning infotainment (Source: Ford)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although most are doing OTAs on vehicle entertainment, Farley explained, Ford \u201cnow has multiyear experience on updating powertrains, breaking the fundamental performance of the vehicle connectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s leader added that with a wide-reaching portfolio, including F-150 and Pro, \u201cthe customer use case is clearly much more complicated than Rivian and Tesla.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farley believes Ford is ahead of Rivian, Tesla, and many other OEMs \u201cbecause we have more complicated platforms.\u201d And because of that, Ford has more scale.<\/p>\n

\"Rivian-most-satisfying-auto-brand\"
Rivian R1T (left) and R1S (right) electric vehicles (Source: Rivian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey have really designed breakthrough EV components with our own design that we think are better and cheaper,\u201d Farley explained.<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s BlueCruise has over 415,000 vehicles on the road enabled with hands-free driving tech. That\u2019s up 25% from the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Matching Tesla and Chinese OEMs on affordability<\/h2>\n

However, Farley explained, \u201cThe second success factor is matching the cost of the Chinese OEMs and Tesla, especially on affordable EVs.\u201d Farley said Ford is designing a \u201csuper efficient platform leveraging innovation across our product development, supply chain and manufacturing teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford will focus on two segments: work and adventure. Smaller, more affordable vehicles use fewer battery materials, reducing costs and improving margins.<\/p>\n

\"Ford-Mustang-Mach-E-Rally\"
Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally (Source: Ford)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Farley said this is already \u201csupercharging the lower cost of ownership that EVs have already worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford will leverage the platform \u201cacross many top hats,\u201d as Farley described. This will drive scale while also growing its software business.<\/p>\n

With its vehicles increasingly becoming \u201cgeneral-purpose computers,\u201d Ford is creating \u201cpowerful, connected, ever-improving customized experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ford-Capri-EV-interior\"
Ford\u2019s new Capri EV interior for Europe (Source: Ford)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Without China\u2019s help?<\/h2>\n

When Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jones asked if Ford could bring a low-cost EV to market profitability without help from China, Farley said Ford made a bet on CATL many years ago.<\/p>\n

Ford will localize LFP battery cells in Michigan with CATL\u2019s help. Farley explained Volkswagen\u2019s move to use XPeng\u2019s platform \u201cis not our strategy.\u201d Ford\u2019s CEO said its partnership strategy \u201cwill be on the component side going deep into the supply chain for IP.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Ford-Puma-EV\"
New Ford Puma (Source: Ford of Europe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Farley added, \u201cThe true fitness test for EV profitability will be these small vehicles.\u201d He believes \u201cmany of our competitors will turn to their Chinese either independent companies or partners to basically use their platform globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments come after Ford\u2019s Model e EV business lost another $1.1 billion in the second quarter. Ford has lost $2.5 billion<\/a> on its EVs through the first half of 2024. The automaker is betting on its new low-cost EV platform to turn things around.<\/p>\n

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FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> More.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ford is betting on smaller electric cars as the future. Its \u201cSkunkworks \u201d team is not so small, and now that the cat is out of the bag, we are learning more about Ford\u2019s new affordable platform. Ford CEO Jim Farley compared its new low-cost EV platform to Rivian and Tesla. However, Farley suggested Ford\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}