Ford is taking a very different approach to vehicle electrification from competitors like GM and Nissan. In many respects, the approach is more akin to what Toyota has done but even more so. Several years ago Toyota declared that by 2020 virtually all of its vehicles would be available with hybrid powertrains.
Ford has decided that going forward at least its high-volume platforms would be engineered to accommodate a range of powertrains including conventional internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full battery electric. In addition to the vehicle platforms, the manufacturing facilities have built-in flexibility to accommodate all of these powerplants as consumer demand shifts.
We've already seen this implemented with the new global compact platform used for the Focus, Escape/Kuga and the C-Max. The Focus is available with gas (and diesel in Europe) and battery electric, hybrid and PHEV in the C-Max and EcoBoost in the Escape and potentially any combination in any of these.
Similarly the new 2013 Fusion will be available with gas, hybrid and PHEV http://fordfusionstory.com/mpg/. Ford is committing to developing all of these options in a way that will let them shift as the market does.
Given the slow sales of late for Nissan Leaf (about 1,700 so far this year) and to a lesser extent for the Volt (it had it's best month yet in March but it is still short of the targets) it will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the next 5-10 years.
#electricvehicles #ford
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Ford's Tortoise Strategy Seems Right for Electric-Vehicle Race – Forbes
Under CEO Alan Mulally, Ford mostly has been a corporate hare. Over the last few years, it has leapt into the industry lead in hybridization among the Detroit Three, in automotive connectivity via Syn…
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