Ford's Hybrid Strategy Will Save Money and Bring Hybrids and EVs to the masses

We want a multitude of approaches, so those that work are not drug down by those that fail, just like Prius was not harmed by GM 'hybrids' that were just stop/start cars with decals added.

 

You can tell alot about where we are at as far as change and Fords approach to alternative automobiles by the title they gave Nancy Gioia-"Director of Global Electricfication."

There was a time not so long ago where a title like that would of sounded ridiculous or comic bookish...Now it's real.

On one hand? These are exciting times because of the options, the change that seems to be coming.

But I do think these are difficult times to predict. When I read that article the one thing that sticks out is that Ford wants to stay versatile. They want to be able to react to whatever the market demands, be it plug in, hybrid, or simply more efficient ICE automobiles.

Read some of the comments below the article. I'm afraid the reality is that what will eventually lead to the greatest degree of change, the most rapidly, will be crisis. Inevitably someday when gas permanently breaks the $4.00 a gallon level and rises, suddenly the allure of plug ins, electrics and hybrids will become irresistable....even to many of those that accuse todays users of being simply smug, elitist cheapskates that want a political or social statement more than a real transportation option. A stereotype I do not believe in.

Another observation is that I find it interesting that the entire article speaks of Fords future within the Electric, Hybrid and Plug In automobile genre, without mentioning Toyota. Seems to be a chosen Bias. Comparisons are made to GM and an hereto unrealeased VOLT...but no mention or comparison to Toyota, or Toyota's marketing success and approach? For that matter no mention of the upcoming Leaf? Just seems strange to me that you would speak about the future of Hybrids, Electrics and marketing approach and NOT even mention Toyota, The imo major mainstream automaker who has been the leader in these area's. Infact, the automaker who's technology Fords current Fusion is based on.

Anyway, I'm Director of Personal Coffeeification....I need caffeine..sooner or later we all plug in something one way or another.

 

Hi All,

This is fine with me, as long as the bring back a Ford Probe that actually looks like/and has the Ford Probe concept/ Ford Probe concept Cd.

 

All Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Cars were setup for demonstration success and no effort given to production planning. The original Honda Insight was not a production tuned car. (hand welded AL Frames!) The Volt spend quite a few years as a Marketing Ideal rather than a car being readied for production (and then only in fits and starts).

The Prius was designed for production from the start.

Ford is setting up for production success on their first EV(s).

 

The more options and competition the better.
Glad Ford appears to be working production in a way that gives them a lot of flexibility.

 

Maybe it will work. Maybe it won't. This sounds like the current version of The Beancounter's Path. The standardization of parts brought us basically the same car built & marketed as a Pontiac/Buick/Oldsmobile or a Pontiac/Chevrolet. Let's ask Pontiac & Oldsmobile what they think about the long term success of that strategy. IMO Ford's "standard chassis" will be a compromise. It won't be the perfect EV platform or the perfect ICE platform. Both cars will suffer. Instead of an opportunity to build one outstanding car they will build two mediocre cars. So now let's put a mediocre Mustang EV up against a Tesla. My opinion: The Mustang will have less range, lower performance, and perhaps a lower price tag.

If Ford's idea were so easy to accomplish why aren't there more Ford EV conversions out there?

 

There is some validity to you point, but there are some good counterpoints also. The chief one is that it positions Ford to ramp up production very quickly. Telsa will take years to get to significant production (You might be on that waiting list a long time). Toyota had to spend most of a decade getting all the unique Prius production tooling and processes ramped up to full speed. Ford's approach may not make the optimum EV, but if there is a very big market for a good-enough EV, then they are very well positioned with this approach.

One other point is that an EV does not need all the components an Hybrid does, but an EV does need to be very cost contained to be a profitable mass market vehicle this early in the introduction stage. What Ford is doing allow them to concentrate on the most important need for a successful production car.....profitability.

By the way, was not the Ford Ranger one of the first conversions to an EV?

 

I see a difference in 'we will design vehicles so that different power sources can be used' to 'we can shoehorn in any powerpant'. If Ford is truly designing cars to be fuel neutral, I am all for it. If they are designing for ICE and planing on stuffing anything in there, not so much.

 

Very much a thing to observe. Certainly this has been GM's approach with fuel emission controls, diesel engines, and "hybrid" incorporations in their vehicles. However, the guy in charge at Ford does know the difference between style and substance, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The GM CEOs never did figure out the difference.

 

For my money, the Prius is still the best, most fuel efficient hybrid around. Saw a review this morning of the Lexus 250H compared to the Prius--how it was more powerful, luxurious, etc. Wrong comparison. The right one is with the Camry hybrid, which has the same engine as the Lexus and is close to the same size. But everybody wants to compare vs the Prius--the standard for all hybrids.

 

Yep
honda was supposed to bring the Insight to the masses ... silverado too ... and the malibu .... etc ... supposed to bring 'em to the masses. Then reality hits. Even so Ford ... give it your best shot.

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Sounds just like the Volt concept car. It can be an EV, it can run on hydrogen, it can be a hybrid.

If the platform is not optimized for an EV the vehicle is going to be heavy, the storage space is going to be full of batteries, and the performance is going to be on the low end. I don't see "the mainstream" buying them.

Take the light weight EV platform and drop in an ICE and they may have something to sell but it won't be cheap as they have to recover the additional expenses of aluminum (compared to steel). At least it will make conversions easier.

If Ford follows the engineers they may have something. If they listen to the accountants they'll end up with crap.

 

i don't think those ford/camry numbers are right. we consistantly get 38-45 mpg in our hycam. i think that's around the same as real world fusion. still a compliment to ford tho, eh?