Ford CEO Jim Farley says the Ford F-150 Lightning, the world’s first all-electric mass-market pickup truck, represents 'the tip of the spear' in Ford’s EV strategy.
Hi, I’m Russ Mitchell. I write about electric vehicles for the Los Angeles Times, and I’m filling in today for Sammy Roth.
Countries around the world are requiring car companies to sell electric vehicles in increasing numbers until internal combustion cars are phased out. Europe and China are taking the lead — and, in the United States, California is out front. “Road trips are kind of spiritual for me,” Farley said. His first was a secret cross-country drive from his parents’ Santa Monica home before he had a driver’s license. “I believe road trips are kind of a coming of age thing.”
For Ford, right now, that’s commercial customers, businesses large and small, who use motor vehicles for work. That might be the single proprietor of a three-employee electric repair service, a yard work crew or, say, the Vestas Wind Farm in Solano County with its fleet of 300 Lightning pickups. Commercial vans, which are quickly going electric, also key to Farley’s plan.
Chevy and Ram top out the big three pickup makers. Ford has a head start in pickup EVs. As for Tesla, Farley doesn’t see the upcoming Cybertruck as a direct competitor. So how do you make money from data? With the right data, easy to find and useful to the customer, there’s plenty of opportunity, Farley believes — especially for commercial customers. Ford already claims 450,000 subscribers to its new Ford Pro productivity software, which helps business owners manage their fleets — informing tasks such as charging vehicles, monitoring battery health and even something as broad as management of their employees.
For safety’s sake, Blue Cruise operates on ramp to off ramp only on major highways. Eventually, Ford plans to offer a fully automated version of Blue Cruise for highway driving, leaving drivers and passengers free to do other things.
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