Details on Ford's future EV to be announced on August 11th!

[ChehRob]

I'm suspecting the skunkworks has finished design work for the new skateboard, at least in one and likely in two sizes. This will give Ford the opportunity to offer a variety of models over the next several years.

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[DYohn]

The announcement on Aug 11 will be interesting since Farley hinted at a "new platform." All I know is I'm hoping for an EV in 2027 with great styling and Lincoln luxury touches and a smooth old man ride since I am an old man. And 500 miles range per charge.

 

[Blue highway]

crystal ball says... truck. because Americans brainlessly buy trucks.

 

[shelnian]

I think the key part of the quote is "for Ford". It will be a Model T moment "for Ford".

It has to be a huge improvement in production efficiency and cost, with the potential to be the lowest cost manufacturer in the industry. So the reveal will be a super efficient BEV platform that is cost competitive with China. Maybe cheaper than China.

It won't be a vehicle. It will be a platform Ford believes is the most efficient they have ever produced before.

That said, they may announce the first vehicle to be built on the platform. But that vehicle isn't what is important. The platform will be the what matters.

IMO.

I agree, Ford has been traveling to China to see how they are designing and manufacturing cars. They have also been working closely with Munro, who likes Tesla designs and manufacturing. Expect they will move to castings to reduce costs. They may also move to plastic injected exterior panels, that don't need painting, to further reduce costs.

They just finished their battery plant for LFP batteries, so will avoid the tariffs on Chinese LFPs.

Will be nice if they move to a 48VDC low voltage and a centralized control system, like Tesla. As we have seen with the Mach-E and Lightning, OTA updates have been very difficult due to coordinating changes with all the modules from multiple companies.

 

[Jimrpa]

crystal ball says... truck. because Americans brainlessly buy trucks.

A hybrid truck (probably Maverick-sized or smaller) with a very small battery. Perhaps a series hybrid to maintain a bit of an “aura” of electrification. I’m thinking of something like a “city truck”. Not a “real” truck that could do “truck things” (tow big trailers, loads of mulch, go off-road, etc.) Think something tiny that you could toss 1-2 bikes (maybe with front wheels removed) into the bed. Oh, and lots of things that would appeal to GenZ/younger Millennials.

 

[dan_meh]

I think the key part of the quote is "for Ford". It will be a Model T moment "for Ford".

It has to be a huge improvement in production efficiency and cost, with the potential to be the lowest cost manufacturer in the industry. So the reveal will be a super efficient BEV platform that is cost competitive with China. Maybe cheaper than China.

It won't be a vehicle. It will be a platform Ford believes is the most efficient they have ever produced before.

That said, they may announce the first vehicle to be built on the platform. But that vehicle isn't what is important. The platform will be the what matters.

Ditto.

I'm very interested in how Ford talks about it. If they really lean into the platform idea, they have my attention. Like if they go up and they say "we cut this amount of weight" and "our new 48v system" and (importantly) "here's what we learned from the Mach-e," then I'm going to lean in to listen.

If, however, they talk about the new cars, and how you can drive them to a BLM site (that 80% of people never go to) or track them at autocross (again, most people don't - present company excluded), I'm going to turn it off. "Car company releases new car" isn't an interesting headline.

I'm also on the EREV bandwagon. I can see that part or all of the announcement is going to be "Ford Releases Chinese-like EREVs," though they won't say the C word. On background, executives will say that they took inspiration from Honda's mild hybrid. They'll explain the recipe as follows:

You get a big battery, good for (say) 100 miles. It's LFP, so you charge it to 100% daily - 100 miles is 100 miles. You put the same motors in the car as you would in a RWD MME - proper acceleration, but not GT level. You also ramp power gently so that you accelerate like a sane person and don't need to dump current into a motor. The ICE doesn't drive the wheels (no transmission). It instead turns a generator that charges the battery. For the vast majority of daily trips, they'll tell us, you just run on the battery - it runs like an EV. But when you drive to grandma's house, you can either stop to fill it with gas or you can stop to fast charge it. Subtext: don't be nervous!

Oh, and it comes with NACS.

 

[phil]

The P51 Mustang went from contract to flight in 90 days. Doing things in a safe manner takes a little longer.

Are you suggesting that a consumer automobile should be safer than a World War II fighter plane?

 

[DYohn]

You get a big battery, good for (say) 100 miles. It's LFP, so you charge it to 100% daily - 100 miles is 100 miles. You put the same motors in the car as you would in a RWD MME - proper acceleration, but not GT level. You also ramp power gently so that you accelerate like a sane person and don't need to dump current into a motor. The ICE doesn't drive the wheels (no transmission). It instead turns a generator that charges the battery. For the vast majority of daily trips, they'll tell us, you just run on the battery - it runs like an EV. But when you drive to grandma's house, you can either stop to fill it with gas or you can stop to fast charge it. Subtext: don't be nervous!

You mean like an improved version of my wife's 2013 Chevy Volt.

 

[Jimrpa]

You mean like an improved version of my wife's 2013 Chevy Volt.

With a “truck” body because … “truck”. And heavy emphasis on how it uses gas because …

 

[mkhuffman]

With a “truck” body because … “truck”. And heavy emphasis on how it uses gas because …

... gas is cheap and plentiful.

 

[ngtwolf]

You get a big battery, good for (say) 100 miles. It's LFP, so you charge it to 100% daily - 100 miles is 100 miles. You put the same motors in the car as you would in a RWD MME - proper acceleration, but not GT level. You also ramp power gently so that you accelerate like a sane person and don't need to dump current into a motor. The ICE doesn't drive the wheels (no transmission). It instead turns a generator that charges the battery. For the vast majority of daily trips, they'll tell us, you just run on the battery - it runs like an EV. But when you drive to grandma's house, you can either stop to fill it with gas or you can stop to fast charge it. Subtext: don't be nervous!

I don't see this part really. Hybrid's just don't make sense going forward, just too much complexity in the vehicles that you don't have with pure ICE or EV's. They were an interim car and definitely still needed for a long time, but i'm not sure about investing in a platform that'll get phased out.

Until you're putting out an EV that's basically the Accord or Civic of EV's.. that's the car that the majority of people (not me) would buy. For that to happen we need competitive EV MSRP pricing, super fast charging with ~300 mile range, and more reliable ubiquitous charging stations. All of these are being worked out, but the only thing Ford can really do anything about is #1 and #2 (#3 was helped by the tesla partnership) - so that's where their model T moment could come into play.

 

[dan_meh]

You mean like an improved version of my wife's 2013 Chevy Volt.

I think I read somewhere that Karl Benz said, "The Model T is just like Berta's car." Maybe it is a Model T moment .

 

[dan_meh]

I don't see this part really. Hybrid's just don't make sense going forward, just too much complexity in the vehicles that you don't have with pure ICE or EV's. They were an interim car and definitely still needed for a long time, but i'm not sure about investing in a platform that'll get phased out.

Until you're putting out an EV that's basically the Accord or Civic of EV's.. that's the car that the majority of people (not me) would buy. For that to happen we need competitive EV MSRP pricing, super fast charging with ~300 mile range, and more reliable ubiquitous charging stations. All of these are being worked out, but the only thing Ford can really do anything about is #1 and #2 (#3 was helped by the tesla partnership) - so that's where their model T moment could come into play.

I agree. I'm just making a prediction based on what I've heard Farley say - quietly releasing "studies show" information that people don't actually drive all that much - laying the groundwork for an EREV. I can see it going like Scout Motors: a Harvester version.

Putting prediction aside... what do I want? An electric Focus RS. I'm not going to get that. If they do release an "Electric Mavrick" (likely, because trucks), I will be sad.

We'll see in 10 days...

 

[mkhuffman]

A hybrid truck (probably Maverick-sized or smaller) with a very small battery. Perhaps a series hybrid to maintain a bit of an “aura” of electrification. I’m thinking of something like a “city truck”. Not a “real” truck that could do “truck things” (tow big trailers, loads of mulch, go off-road, etc.) Think something tiny that you could toss 1-2 bikes (maybe with front wheels removed) into the bed. Oh, and lots of things that would appeal to GenZ/younger Millennials.

Maybe it will look something like this:

 

[devmach-e]

I don't see this part really. Hybrid's just don't make sense going forward, just too much complexity in the vehicles that you don't have with pure ICE or EV's. They were an interim car and definitely still needed for a long time, but i'm not sure about investing in a platform that'll get phased out.

In the past, Ford has used the same hybrid designs as Toyota. That technology is nearly 30-years old at this point and is super reliable. Most of the complexity is in the software that manages the various energy inputs (engine, electric motors, regenerative braking, etc), not the mechanics. A plug-in version of the hybrid just adds a larger battery.

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