Ford CEO Jim Farley launched into an EV highway journey in an F-150 Lightning pickup truck to realize perception into the experiences of Ford’s EV clients.
Farley and his celebration set off this week from Silicon Valley, driving south to Los Angeles after which west to Las Vegas, traversing elements of the enduring Route 66 alongside the best way, the Ford CEO wrote in a LinkedIn submit. Among the many deliberate stops shall be a charging station that Farley says prompted Ford’s deal to undertake the Tesla cost port, often called the North American Charging Normal (NACS), for future EVs.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
Alongside the best way, Farley plans to go to “researchers, companies, sellers, salespeople, EV conversion outlets, EV drivers, and communities” and use the identical roads and charging infrastructure as abnormal EV drivers, so as to be taught concerning the real-world expertise of EV use. Farley famous that earlier in his profession at Toyota, he utilized insights from one other highway journey to enhancing the automaker’s bread-and-butter Camry midsize sedan.
“Listening is how we be taught,” Farley mentioned, “and that is what we’ll be doing from the highway.”
Ford F-150 Lightning at Tesla Supercharger
Farley could already pay attention to one of many greatest points within the present EV local weather. In a dialogue of Ford’s quarterly earnings report final week, he confirmed the automaker is decreasing its 2023 EV manufacturing targets. Farley pointed to price as the primary purpose, saying that greater than 30% of shoppers intend to purchase an EV, however that top buy costs are holding many potential clients again. He beforehand pointed to the beginning of an EV value warfare earlier this 12 months.
The F-150 Lightning has received the approval of truck patrons and media—in a primary drive we discovered it to be nothing wanting revolutionary—however it’s additionally a poster youngster for EV value inflation. Whereas Ford in July lowered the value of the Lightning by $9,979 on the bottom Professional mannequin, it had beforehand raised costs 4 instances for the reason that truck’s launch in April 2022. Even with the value lower, the present base value of $51,990 (together with a $1,995 vacation spot cost) continues to be 25% increased than the $41,669 base value from the time of its introduction.
