Ford to become more electrifying after $4.5 billion investment

Ford is to pump $4.5 billion into the development of electric and hybrid vehicles between now and 2020.

The carmaker said the first product of its new investment will be an upgrade to the Focus Electric, which they claim will replenish 80 per cent of the battery in 30 minutes using a fast charger.

Fields said 40% of nameplates globally will be electrified by end of decade from 13% now. As for the other eight cars, Ford could choose to count the freshly updated 2017 Lincoln MKZ hybrid-and even add a plug-in variant-as well as toss the Fusion hybrid’s powertrain into the Escape to match Toyota’s new RAV4 hybrid crossover.

First, I think Ford is setting the stage for whatever it plans to introduce at the big auto show in Detroit next month. The difference is that instead of doing conventional customer surveys, Ford has been sending research teams out in the field to observe and catalog vehicles in use.

“The challenge going forward isn’t who provides the most technology in a vehicle but who best organizes that technology in a way that most excites and delights people”, Raj Nair, executive vice president of Ford’s product development division.

Ford says it hopes the new DC chargers will help consumers overcome the stigma of not having enough range.

Clearly, Tesla stock has managed to support far higher multiples than Ford stock over the last few years, based exclusively off its electric vehicle goals and speculation. The vehicle will also have a 100-mile range, up from the current model’s EPA-rated 76-mile range.

Sales of the electric Focus have remained at compliance-car levels for five years, swamped by those of the Nissan Leaf, the Tesla Model S, and lately the BMW i3 as well.

“The market for vehicle miles traveled is $5 trillion”, Fields said on the sidelines of a media presentation at Ford’s Dearborn design center. There’s also a Brake Coach system to instruct drivers on how to recapture the maximum amount of energy through the regenerative braking system. This is important because the more energy a driver captures through braking, the more energy is returned to the vehicle’s battery. The automakers investment shift to greener production appears to be ill-timed as the current USA market is strong for traditional vehicles, nurtured by the low fuel prices. The competition is heating up in the EV market, which is why part of Ford’s investment will go towards battery technology.