- Ford’s CEO teased an electric vehicle launch important to automotive history next week
- A new report suggests it’s a lineup of cheaper EVs based on a new battery chemistry
Ford CEO Jim Farley recently caused a stir on the automaker’s second-quarter earnings call, saying the company had a “Model T moment” to show the world on Aug. 11. Farley hinted at a “breakthrough” electric vehicle (EV) set to appear next week.
The Model T is arguably history’s most important car. Sold from 1908 to 1927, it made cars affordable at middle-class salaries for the first time.
A new report says, however, that what Ford launches next Monday won’t be a single car. Instead, industry publication Automotive News says, the debut will be “a line of affordable electric vehicles assembled in Kentucky with batteries from a new plant in Michigan.”
AN cites “two sources with knowledge of the plan.”
The Michigan plant will be “the first EV battery plant in the U.S. to use lithium iron phosphate chemistry, known as LFP, at an industrial scale,” the publication reports. LFP batteries offer slightly lower range than the nickel manganese cobalt batteries found in most current EVs, but cost significantly less.
They could help Ford produce an EV at a far lower price. However, surveys have shown that Americans want EVs with at least 300 miles of range.
The batteries could power a full lineup of vehicles. Crain’s Detroit Business says at least one will be a midsize pickup. Ford’s F-150 Lightning full-size electric truck is now the best-selling electric truck in America, though its sales remain a small fraction of the overall truck market.
A new midsize Ford pickup could resurrect an old name. Fan site Ford Authority reports that the company recently renewed its trademark on the name Ranchero.
We should note, however, that automakers often maintain legal rights to old names to prevent someone else from using them. The move doesn’t necessarily mean Ford will reuse the name itself.
