Ford says it has plans to develop an electric vehicle that would effectively go up against the Tesla Model 3 and the Chevrolet Bolt. The automaker’s CEO Mark Fields revealed this at the brand’s first-quarter earnings conference call, Automotive News reports.
“Clearly that’s something we’re developing for,” Fields said in response to a question as to whether the Blue Oval was looking to offer an EV with an operating range of around 300 km. While he didn’t elaborate on the subject, it’s the first time a top Ford executive has acknowledged specific plans about a longer-range EV, the publication added.
Rumour has it that Ford is expected to call the car the Model E, and it will assemble the EV starting from 2019 at its new plant in Mexico. According to research firm AutoForecast Solutions, the Model E is likely to be offered as a traditional hybrid, a plug-in hybrid and a pure EV.
The automaker currently has the Focus Electric in its line-up, but that only has a 122 km range. This is set to be increased to 160 km later this year, but it’s still half the advertised range of the upcoming Bolt and the Model 3, which is expected to go on sale within two years.
Fields had announced in December that Ford was set to pump in US$4.5 billion to add 13 hybrid or electric vehicles to its lineup by 2020, adding that 40% of its nameplates will be available in an electrified version by that time.
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Traditional car makers need to get going with their electric plans. Tesla’s running away with it but that has got their attention now. Good. The sooner they get on board and start doing serious research to leap-improve battery tech, the better for us consumers in going electric. The better for the environment too. Thank you Tesla.
Electric cars are not the cleanest or most efficient mode of transportation due to most power plants still using coal as fuel. These power plants releases a lot of pollutants into the atmosphere. The future lies with hydrogen cell power.
We burn gas for power, mostly. Until TNB can get their act right and generate more renewables, moving away from petrol to gas now doesn’t address sustainability issues.
Where is our Iriz EEV? Proton showcased the car 2 years ago and got billions from the Government to do further research and development.
Hello Proton, no need to do fake R&D and sapu money. Tesla already giving the world FREE copyrighted blueprints and designs and technical knowhow to build the car from scratch. Proton does not need a single sen. Just take the desgns and technical knowhow FREE from Tesla, the No 1 EEV maker in the world.
Think outside the box please. Whatever electric consumption it is,the electric powerplant still running,still emit pollutants. By going to electric routes, we have reduce the amount of pollutant produce from vehicles.
I’m aware of hydrogen’s advantage over current electric vehicles in terms of absolute emissions (so are many others including Elon Musk). Hydrogen has it’s place in the further future and also, its place is in the powerplants that’ll ultimately replace the polluting powerplants existing now. Electric infrastructure can be put into place with much less expenditure much more swiftly. So unless there is an out of the blue development in hydrogen infrastructure feasability, the answer right now is still electric. It is certainly the start of the energy revolution… the end … who knows?
Proton planning an EV to compete with Myvi.
Neither there’s any cheap electricity nor even free electricity unless we can reproduce the Nikola Tesla energy beaming stations within economic scale…
Just pls dun come into SG. Our beloved PAP will find excessive emission from ur battery powered no emission car then make u pay thru ur nose to get it legalised.
U have been warned.
People are fed up with you criticizing PAP and DAP. Get a life bro. So many dupes you create and pretending to reply to yourself
Siapa makan cili dia rasa pedas ;-P
You are peria , samy, john RBA, same lorrrr, albert george etc dupes
Decades after he died in poverty, only recently people acknowledges the contributions and genius of Nikola Tesla. So many of his inventions are far ahead of his time. Come to think of it, Thomas Edison was a bully and a jerk.
Yeah. If only he had invented the real Tesla Coil, then pipu wud have been shown the light(ning) and know the true power of the Tesla force.
Meanwhile in Malaysia automotive industry……
…do not fine pipu for hi emission from their no emission EV car. We shud be like PAP cari duit.
No future of EV in Malaysia until the government abolishes the oppressive taxes. Cars should be amortized over 5 years. Anymore than that, payback from EV won’t be attractive.
“Let them fight”
-Ken Watenabe
The problem with EV is that it cannot go for long distance. Cannot even drive from KL to PG. It has no instant charging or refill ability.
In long term Japanese car makers Fuel Cell technology will win. I guess.