Earlier this year, news that Ford is planning hybrid versions of the Mustang and the F-150 might have overshadowed what, to electric-vehicle fans, was a bombshell announcement from the automaker: It is aiming for a range of more than 300 miles for an all-electric crossover due in showrooms by 2020.
While that range number came as a surprise, another new piece of information about the upcoming crossover EV is less shocking: Ford is targeting affordability with the compact model. Ford chief technical officer Raj Nair, in an interview with Business Insider, confirmed that to get the volume of electrified vehicles up, “We have to make sure we make the affordability targets, or otherwise they are going to stay as a niche item or a pure luxury item.”
Increasing sales volume is essential to drive down the costs of battery packs, which can account for 50 percent of the vehicle price, according to Goldman Sachs. However, EVs are now expected to hit parity with internal-combustion-engined vehicles in Europe as soon as next year, UBS predicts, with parity in China in 2023 and the U.S. in 2025.
Even considering the upward creep of what affordability means—the average new-vehicle transaction price today has soared past $34,000 by several estimates—it seems likely that the new Ford would be priced in the same sub-$40k territory now occupied by the Chevrolet Bolt EV (which, for the record, GM marketing touts as a crossover, although we saw it as a hatchback when it landed on our 2017 10Best Cars list).
The market for small electric crossovers is likely to be crowded by the time the Ford EV arrives. Expected around the same time—and in the sub-$40,000 range—are the Volkswagen I.D., a Volvo all-electric car, a Tesla Model Y, and a Mercedes-Benz crossover that will be the first of an entirely electric EQ sub-brand.
Ford hasn’t built a lot of enthusiasm for electric vehicles so far at its dealerships. The only all-electric production model the automaker has sold so far this century has been the Ford Focus Electric—a model that gained DC fast charging and a longer driving range of 115 miles for 2017. It can now be ordered in all 50 states, and at $29,995 prior to tax credits, incentives, and lease deals, it’s already quite affordable.
from Car and Driver BlogCar and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/2q7D1ZH
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment