Ford Says Electrified Trucks Are Its Future – CleanTechnica

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My colleague Tina Casey has just published a story that parses a recent Ford press release that focuses on the company’s electrification strategy for the future. The takeaway from that story is that Ford is betting the farm on LFP batteries for its electric vehicles, primarily because they are the cheapest batteries available at the moment. But those electric vehicles won’t be in showrooms as soon as many had hoped. Ford, it seems, is finding it hard to find buyers for its F-150 Lightning, even if it can pull a string of boxcars uphill against a headwind.

Recently, Ford reorganized itself into three operating divisions — Ford Blue for legacy models, Ford Pro for commercial vehicles, and Ford Model e for electric vehicles. Now, according to CNBC, it seems there will be fewer vehicles for the Model e arm of the company. This week, Ford announced it is ending its plans to manufacture a battery electric three-row SUV and delaying production of a next-generation all-electric pickup truck at a new factory in Tennessee.

“We loved our three-row crossover and I was so excited to show everyone the work we did,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said. “But there was just no way it would ever meet our criteria of being profitable.”

Instead, Ford is planning to bring electrification to its Ford Pro commercial trucks division in the form of hybrid powertrains like the one currently offered in the Ford F-150, which combines a robust V-6 engine with an electric powertrain to deliver over 400 horsepower, making it one of the most powerful pickup trucks ever offered in the F-150. “With the PowerBoost, Ford looks to offer an efficient and capable truck for those who want the best of both worlds,” the company says. “As we’ve learned in the marketplace, and we’ve seen where people have gravitated, we’re going to focus in where we have competitive advantage, and that’s on commercial land trucks and SUVs,” Ford CFO John Lawler said Wednesday.

Ford Will Emphasize Hybrids

Details about the F-150 Hybrid are hard to find. Ford says it uses a 3.5 liter V-6 engine — there is no mention of a turbocharger — and that the powertrain has 430 hp, 570 ft-lb of torque, and a towing capacity of 11,200 pounds. The only mention of a plug in the description is a reference to the two 110-volt outlets in the load bed to run power tools at job sites. There is no mention of the battery anywhere on the Ford site. The F-150 Hybrid is rated at 25 mpg while the conventional truck with the same V-6 engine is rated at 21 mpg. Think of it as a Prius with a load bed that can pull a 5-ton trailer. Battery only range? Forget about it!

The Ford configurator has a bewildering array of models and powertrains. Good luck finding a price for the F-150 Hybrid. The best advice we can give interested readers is “see dealer for details.” Expect to pay a little bit more for the hybrid compared to a standard gas-powered truck but less than the battery-only F-150 Lighting. At 4 mpg more, the payback on the hybrid option will probably be measured in years rather than months.

Ford already has a battery electric van, the E-Transit built in Kansas City, and is planning to produce a new fully electric commercial van in Ohio starting in 2026, says Bloomberg. That will be followed by two new pickups in 2027. One will be a medium-size model based on a platform created by a team headed by Alan Clarke, a former Tesla engineer who was involved with creating the Model Y. That truck is being developed in California at a special design facility Ford refers to as its “skunk works.” The other is a next-generation truck Ford will build in Tennessee about two years later than initially planned. The Ford Maverick midsize pickup truck is proving that customers are receptive to hybrid power. 60 percent of all Mavericks are sold with the hybrid powertrain rather than the standard gasoline engine.

To improve the financial performance of its EV business, Ford will boost its mix of battery production in the US to qualify for manufacturing tax credits included in the Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The carmaker is working with LG Energy Solution to shift some of the battery output needed for Mustang Mach-E electric SUVs to Holland, Michigan, from Poland next year. “An important enabler to achieving that profitability is around the mix of the battery production that’s in the US that’s going to qualify for the advanced manufacturing tax credit,” John Lawler, Ford’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. “That’s going to be a big part of our walk to profitability.”

BlueOval SK — Ford’s joint venture with SK On — also will start making batteries for the automaker’s current E-Transit vans earlier than planned, beginning in mid-2025. By late next year, BlueOval will produce cells for the commercial van that will be built in Ohio. Ford is on track to start making lower cost lithium-iron-phosphate batteries in Michigan beginning in 2026. The automaker expects this to be the first LFP cell plant in the US and for the batteries to qualify for IRA tax credits of up to $7,500 for consumers. Ford pared back the planned capacity for the factory by almost half late last year. If CATL is involved in the Michigan factory, there is not one mention of that fact anywhere on any Ford website that we were able to discover.

Farley said the midsize pickup that will be powered by the LFP battery made in Michigan will be cheaper to own and operate than a traditional internal combustion engine or hybrid model. “It’s a game-changing product from a cost-of-ownership standpoint,” Farley said. For now, he said Ford’s approach to any proposed new EV is simple: “We don’t approve ’em unless they’re going to be profitable in the first year.”

The Takeaway

It isn’t easy going green, as Ford is finding out. Still, one wonders how much of this hand wringing is caused by Ford (and others) preparing for a change in the regulatory environment if the red team is victorious. Its erstwhile leader has been thumping his chest and threatening to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act within 8 seconds after taking office. If so, the federal tax credit for new electric cars will be a thing of the past, along with the manufacturing credits for battery manufacturers.

And yet, Hyundai and Kia are making or planning to make a battery-electric 3-row SUV like the one Ford has cancelled. They also have a full lineup of electric sedans and compact SUVs. Why can they do it and Ford can’t? Inquiring minds want to know, but the answer may bode ill for the future of Henry Ford’s creation. Interesting times ahead for the American auto industry.