Like most established automakers, Ford Motors is looking to electrify its vehicle line-ups and carve a section of the nascent electric vehicle (“EV”) market for itself over the next couple of decades. Ford has already released the award-winning Mustang Mach-E and is currently developing an electrified version of its bestselling F-150 pickup truck. Additionally, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker has invested $500 million in electric vehicle startup Rivian for more than 10% ownership. According to a Ford executive, the company is now looking to significantly ramp up EV production in the next couple of years.
Ford plans on increasing electric vehicle production to an annual capacity of almost 600,000 within the next two years, says CEO Jim Farley. This would make it the world’s largest U.S.-based electric car maker behind Tesla, which has an annual installed production capacity of more than a million electric cars. Ramping up production to 600,000 units per year would also double the number of electric vehicles Ford was initially planning on building over the next two years, says Farley. Ford North America’s chief operating officer Lisa Drake says the automaker’s optimism is hinged on increasing demand for the F-150 Lightning pickup.
Ford has already received 200,000 refundable $100 deposits for the electric pickup truck and has stopped taking reservations. Drake says the company will leverage vertical integration at existing facilities that manufacture parts for combustion cars and integrate electric vehicle components such as e-drives and power electronics. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Annual Global Automotive Conference, Drake noted that Ford is collaborating with five global battery companies to develop and manufacture affordable battery cells for its future electric models. Since batteries account for most of an EV’s price, bringing battery production costs down can make electric cars much more affordable.
Drake says Ford and Colorado-based all-solid-state battery cell developers are working on a solid-state battery that should hit the EV market before 2030. Over the next two years, the ramped-up production will mainly be focused on the F-150 Lightning, the Mustang Mach-E and the E-Transit, an all-electric truck. Farley says the company saw a great demand for electric vehicles and, due to the novelty of the EV, had to approach the situation differently and with a lot of capacity planning.
With several parts of the world braving extreme weather as a result of climate change, a ton of countries are increasingly turning to renewables. Transport is a significant carbon emitter, and electric vehicles, coupled with clean, renewable energy, are a great way to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
It looks like Ford has thrown the gauntlet, and other players in this space such as Kandi Technologies Group Inc. (NASDAQ: KNDI) will need to put their best foot forward if they are to compete favorably with the legacy automakers who have been in the auto industry for decades.
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