Ford’s Push for Affordable EVs Could Give Us the Compact Electric Car We Deserve
It’s hard out there for anyone who wants an EV but doesn’t want an SUV or truck.
Ford appears to be switching gears.
The automaker’s CEO Jim Farley recently teased plans to improve growth, notably with a smaller EV platform. We still don’t have exact details on this platform, but it should be considerably more compact than its existing Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning EVs.
The American automaker is likely feeling the pressure from overseas EV makers who seem to have figured out the formula behind affordable, compact electric cars. Chinese competitors like BYD have been consistently pumping out compact EVs that often start at half the price of cars in the U.S.
We don’t need more expensive electric SUVs.
A Pivot to Smaller EVs
With all these options overseas, we’re stuck choosing which expensive all-electric SUV to go with in the U.S. The options are limited, though Chevy is working on its Equinox, which can drop to just under $27,500 thanks to federal tax incentives, and is expected to start deliveries later this year.
The trick for bringing EV prices down, according to Ford, is to go big on going small.
“If you do the economics and all that battery capacity for a vehicle that's, let's say, the Escape or smaller, it's totally different,” Farley said during the recent fireside chat about Ford’s growth plans. “It completely works.”
Farley added that this hypothetical smaller EV has an even better operating cost “than a Corolla or a Civic or even a Maverick.” The Ford CEO also acknowledged that larger EVs are expensive to build and that customers only want these if they have lots of features or serve as a work vehicle. The comments come shortly after Farley revealed that Ford has been working on this platform with a skunkworks team that was created two years ago. We still don’t know what the first EV out of this smaller platform could be, but an all-electric Ford Fiesta wouldn’t be a bad start.
It’s not like Ford doesn’t have experience with affordable, smaller cars.
At the end of the day, lots of people are just looking for an EV that can match the cost-effectiveness of the legendary Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. It might be a lot to ask for, but it seems that Ford is pursuing that route.
