Ford has written off $1.9bn as it cancelled plans for an all-electric large SUV in the US, opting to produce a hybrid version instead in the latest sign of western carmakers struggling to make profitable electric cars.
The US carmaker said on Wednesday that it would not be able to reach a profit on the electric SUV within a year, its measure of whether a new car is viable, citing the stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers. It will initially write off the cost of $400m (£300m) in tooling for the vehicle, plus another $1.5bn (£1.15bn) in extra costs in the future.
Ford also said it would delay the successor to its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck until 2027, after initially targeting a launch next year.
Maybe stop making giant, fucking monstrosities of vehicles and focus on humanely-sized ones. I’d love to buy a Ford EV (my Fusion Hybrid has been a dream), but I do not want some grotesquely oversized monster truck or SUV (or their butt ugly crossover designs).
Every time I see one of those ridiculous bus-sized SUVs, I think of that scene from Borat where he asks the lady about it, she says it’s so her baby has room, and he’s like “must be huge baby!”
Time for this image again:
SoDo you have the plug in version of the fusion or the regular hybrid? The 20mi electric only range isn’t great, but the extra oomph on the electric motor is really nice in the city.Regular. I kick myself every day for not buying the Energi (the plug-in version). At the time, I didn’t have anywhere to charge it. A year later, I bought a house where I could charge it easily.
The 20 mile range would cover all of my daily driving (though it’s advertised as closer to 30 or 35 i thought)
35mpg on gas, 20mi electric range. On the electric only, it’s more like 16-25 depending on weather/temp, with my high score of 30mi driving like a Granny in a 25mph zone.
I tried to get my mom to buy the energi version when she was looking at the CMAX(crossover fusion), she wanted more trunk space and got the regular hybrid. 3 years later I ended up buying the energi version (used) for a third of the price she paid new.
I get 45-55 in the hybrid (mostly city / suburbs) and about 42 highway/combined (during winter it’s more like 36 mpg regardless). Does the extra battery weight reduce overall MPG that much? I don’t drive like an old man, lol, but I do make heavy use of regen braking.
I’ve been looking to either trade in for or just buy an Energi model, but the closest I can find them is about 250 miles away. Sadly, haven’t seen any closer than that since I bought this one.
I absolutely love my fusion hybrid. Hoping it lasts 20 years
Oh God no, 35mpg is just how the epa rates them. I usually get high 40s low 50s highway and 60ish in the city when the energi battery is empty. The only negative is lost trunk space, and even with the battery hump I can still fit my ebike in the back with the seats folded down.
When I bought it, I got lucky and found a low mileage one just off lease in my town. They even had a non energi with similar mileage, but it was only $500 cheaper. You might try carvana, they’ll ship the car to a location near you, for a fee of course.
My 2015 Energi with 90K miles only has ~12 miles worth of range left in the PHEV battery at full charge.
Does that one have lithium or NiMH for its traction battery? I can’t remember what model year they switched. I’m thinking 2014 but I could be off.
Pretty sure it’s not NiMH.
Nope they’re all NMC lithium chemistry afaik
Unfortunately, you aren’t the US car market. Oversized trucks and cross-over SUVs sell. The top 3 vehicles in 2023 were:
The rest of the list is littered with trucks and cross-over SUVs. Though a couple Tesla vehicles make the list and do quite respectably (The Model Y is at #5). It’s no surprise that US manufacturers are targeting large vehicles. That’s what US consumers want. And sure, there are lots of arguments to be made against land-yachts. But, it made sense that Ford targeted large vehicles for EV sales. If they can get people to accept the F-150 Lightning, that could really move the needle on EV sales and help them scale up. Expecting customers to both buy-in to a newer technology and make radical changes in their buying habits, is a recipe for failure. Though, it also seems that Ford is managing to fail despite chasing consumer trends.