Our meeting with Jim Farley to talk about Ford EVs

[Mach-E VLOG]

A couple of weeks ago, when Jim Farley was on that EV road trip in a Lightning, we got to meet him at one of the stops. We were included with a group of people invited to sit down with Jim for about 45 minutes to talk about EVs. We didn't get to film the whole thing, but we tried to take notes so we could share them later. It was nothing groundbreaking or secret, but there was just a lot of good info shared about Ford's future EV plans. Plus we got to talk with him about our EV ownership experience.

In case you were wondering, there were a variety of people that got invited to the meeting -- including some Tesla fans. In fact, the head to Tesla Club SoCal was there along with a former board member of the San Diego Tesla club.

Sponsored

 

[RKinWA]

A couple of weeks ago, when Jim Farley was on that EV road trip in a Lightning, we got to meet him at one of the stops. We were included with a group of people invited to sit down with Jim for about 45 minutes to talk about EVs. We didn't get to film the whole thing, but we tried to take notes so we could share them later. It was nothing groundbreaking or secret, but there was just a lot of good info shared about Ford's future EV plans. Plus we got to talk with him about our EV ownership experience.

In case you were wondering, there were a variety of people that got invited to the meeting -- including some Tesla fans. In fact, the head to Tesla Club SoCal was there along with a former board member of the San Diego Tesla club.

Great video, thanks. It seems like Jim Farley is genuinely interested in the needs of the EV community and wants to make things better for everyone, not just Ford customers.

On the point about the EV charging and people chatting vs gas stations, I think a lot of has to do with time. At a busy gas station everyone wants you to pump and go, but when you are standing around for 30-45 minutes charging, there is plenty of time to mingle, which is my favorite part of a road trip. Even in ICE vehicles whenever I stop at a roadside vista or viewpoint, I chat with others there.

I have heard a few videos mentioning the future of EV will include smaller batteries and faster charging. Smaller batteries will make them cheaper and lighter, and if the network supports it (i.e., chargers everywhere), it will be no problem popping in and charging for 5-15 minutes and getting back on the road. However, even with gas stations, when going through some remote areas there are plenty of "Last gas for 200 miles" signs, which could be a problem with 100 mile range.

 

[kennethjk]

Thanks for this update

any discussion of the HVBJB issue? I would love to hear his thoughts on this issue.

 

[intensifi]

When 800V architecture become common, I believe EV charging locations will resemble current gas stations (with islands). You will be limited to a 15 min charge session if anyone is waiting.

 

[buzznwood]

When 800V architecture become common, I believe EV charging locations will resemble current gas stations (with islands). You will be limited to a 15 min charge session if anyone is waiting.

With everyone jumping onboard NACS chances are this side of the pond is going to be stuck with 400v for a long time . The v4 super chargers have been slowly rolling out in Europe and those with 800v vehicles have had poor charging speeds. I don't know if the backend on the chargers has been updated to get better results so things may be better now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

Call me cynical but I place all the tesla talk of 1000v superchargers in the same bucket as the tesla roadster 2.0 and that we won't be seeing mass deployment for for a long time. I would of course be please to be proven wrong but until tesla start mass production of there own vehicles with 800v+ architecture they will have little incentive and v4 supercharger will just have a theoretical 1000v but very few will deliver with the only advantage being they have a longer cable so will reach non teslas that can use an adapter.

 

[Arsenic17]

Thanks for the great video guys. Sounds like a fun discussion with Jim!
Personally I dont have any need for dog (or kid) mode, but camping mode would be nice. I like Patrick's mention of charging data on screen. That would be useful for us nerds, but I think it could overwhelm the average Joe, which Ford is going to be catering to more in the coming years.

I think based on the state of the Sync software and Ford Pass that Ford's software team is not nearly as large as it needs to be. They clearly underestimated the amount of manpower needed to maintain such an evolving ecosystem. Hopefully that changes in the coming months (years?) as they are leaps behind Tesla in terms of software features.

 

[Jimrpa]

Great video. I have to admit that I’m not on-board with “small batteries/faster charging experience”. Yet. When I pulled the trigger on the Mustang Mach E (Way back in December 2019), one of the considerations was range. The range of the Premium ER AWD was comparable to my existing Escape. Sure, I may not go on lots of road trips, but that doesn’t mean that I want to go to the gas station every other day to fill up because my car only has a 5 gallon tank (and yes, when I got my Mustang Mach E and “experienced” home charging for myself, I realized it wasn’t that big a deal for my day-to-day use case). If I do go on road trips though, I’d like to be able to make it about 200 miles before having to “fuel”. So, that means a certain sized battery (all other considerations being equal).

 

[DevSecOps]

I have to admit that I’m not on-board with “small batteries/faster charging experience”.

I completely agree. The one thing that gets under my skin with forum members and YouTubers alike is the idea that if they don't need it no one else does.

My weekly commute for work is a prime example of where range does matter. It's 3 hours 187ish miles each way. I never stop during this commute nor do I want to stop. In the winter I have to stop because I can't make it the entire way, which is VERY annoying. It adds at least another 1.25 hours to my total commute. When I work 8 hours and drive for 6, another 1.25 is a huge number.

 

[Mach1E]

A couple of weeks ago, when Jim Farley was on that EV road trip in a Lightning, we got to meet him at one of the stops. We were included with a group of people invited to sit down with Jim for about 45 minutes to talk about EVs. We didn't get to film the whole thing, but we tried to take notes so we could share them later. It was nothing groundbreaking or secret, but there was just a lot of good info shared about Ford's future EV plans. Plus we got to talk with him about our EV ownership experience.

In case you were wondering, there were a variety of people that got invited to the meeting -- including some Tesla fans. In fact, the head to Tesla Club SoCal was there along with a former board member of the San Diego Tesla club.

Any cliffs notes of the 40 min video?

Would love to know if the 5 sec limit on the GT was discussed and if so any details on when the solution will roll out (time frame) and what the “new limits” will be.

 

[Guss-E 2021]

Watched the video yesterday. I'm reserving all judgment until 2025 when all the really big changes start to occur.

One thing that rarely gets mentioned is that James also has Bill Ford's support (Bill owns around 43% office the company I believe). From a PR standpoint, I think Jim is doing much better on the BEV front than Mary is over at GM.

The future looks bright

 

[Mach-E VLOG]

Great video. I have to admit that I’m not on-board with “small batteries/faster charging experience”. Yet. When I pulled the trigger on the Mustang Mach E (Way back in December 2019), one of the considerations was range. The range of the Premium ER AWD was comparable to my existing Escape. Sure, I may not go on lots of road trips, but that doesn’t mean that I want to go to the gas station every other day to fill up because my car only has a 5 gallon tank (and yes, when I got my Mustang Mach E and “experienced” home charging for myself, I realized it wasn’t that big a deal for my day-to-day use case). If I do go on road trips though, I’d like to be able to make it about 200 miles before having to “fuel”. So, that means a certain sized battery (all other considerations being equal).

I completely agree. The one thing that gets under my skin with forum members and YouTubers alike is the idea that if they don't need it no one else does.

My weekly commute for work is a prime example of where range does matter. It's 3 hours 187ish miles each way. I never stop during this commute nor do I want to stop. In the winter I have to stop because I can't make it the entire way, which is VERY annoying. It adds at least another 1.25 hours to my total commute. When I work 8 hours and drive for 6, another 1.25 is a huge number.

Note that Jim Farley wasn't talking about making it 150 miles of range. He said "300+, 320, 340 at highway speeds." I think his point was that if they get really efficient with design, they can offer 300+ miles of real range and use a smaller battery to get that. And then if you add fast charging, it becomes almost identical to many gas vehicles. Several times he mentioned getting better efficiency by being creative.

 

[kindofblue]

Any cliffs notes of the 40 min video?

Would love to know if the 5 sec limit on the GT was discussed and if so any details on when the solution will roll out (time frame) and what the “new limits” will be.

What is T3?
Edit: https://media.ford.com/content/ford...ric-truck--project-t3--at-blueoval-city-.html

 

[Mach-E VLOG]

 

[kodiakng]

Note that Jim Farley wasn't talking about making it 150 miles of range. He said "300+, 320, 340 at highway speeds." I think his point was that if they get really efficient with design, they can offer 300+ miles of real range and use a smaller battery to get that. And then if you add fast charging, it becomes almost identical to many gas vehicles. Several times he mentioned getting better efficiency by being creative.

i'm not sure how ford can meaningfully increase the mi/kWh efficiency of an explorer or lightning sized vehicle but will be interested to see what they come up with (or don't). the major factors in EV (well, any vehicle) efficiency are aerodynamics, drive train, weight.

aerodynamic efficiency is hard: ionic 6, one of the slipperiest EV on the market, is still in the ~4 mi/kWh range with a reasonable sized battery pack but still MUCH smaller than any ford EV and has a quite different frontal shape as well.

huge gains in motor/drive train efficiency are hard: lucid, probably the most efficient motor on the market along with a slippery shape, is still in the ~4 mi/kWh range with a larger battery but still much smaller than explorer or lightning.

for the same class of vehicle, EV weight differences are largely a function of cell kWh/kg density and overall pack size.

getting the kind of range at highway speeds jim is describing will require significant advances in cell density, motor efficiency, and some compromises in shape for aerodynamics. there may be small percentage gains in other areas but these are the primary contributors.

fast charging also means he's talking about 800+V architecture which is good.

 

[SWO]

Great video. I have to admit that I’m not on-board with “small batteries/faster charging experience”.

Yep. Not only does it mean more reliance on the charging network, it also means more cycles on the battery and, for me at least, a higher state of charge for at-home charging (I was charging to 90-100% to meet my needs with my SR Mach-E whereas I can charge my LR to 80-85% year round without anxiety).

Sponsored