A walk down Ford's EV evolutionNYSE:F
In regards to the chart - Leaving this here mainly as a visual in order to build upon a more expansive EV map throughout the year in 2022.
Continued information outside what is represented on the chart image:
A bit more history for those who are interested...time to step back to eh EV world in the 1800's......
Did you know Henry Ford was friends with Thomas Edison? Yes! In fact Mr. Ford was well aware that Thomas Edison had made an attempt to engineer battery technology for automobiles in the early 1900's. In 1884, Edison began a journey which was met with many denied patents and even lab explosions. He had discovered what was in essence early fuel cell technology based on the catalytic oxidation of carbon. By 1899 Edison, ONLY 4 years after the introduction of feasible gasoline based autos, his efforts were ramped up. Edison's belief was founded in the idea that EV technology could one day prove "more economical" than ICE counterparts. A battery with longer life, means to recharge, powerful enough to travel large distance, and light enough as to not be inefficient while supporting its own system.
1903- The newly established Edison Storage Battery Company was set to manufacture and sell "nickel-iron cells" and started to promote them for commercialization in transportation. This same year, Henry Ford made is 3rd attempt at starting a company - this time naming it Ford Motor Company.
1908 - Henry Ford introduces the Model T. Between 1908-1927 more than 15 million were produced. Was this poor timing on Edison's part to try and push EV tech on the world? The ICE age was born, America was captivated by the Model T. At this point in time ICE systems were much much more efficient than any EV tech that Edison had produced.
Remember when I said Ford and Edison were friends? Well, Ford had worked his way to the position of chief operating engineer of the Edison Illuminating Company. Yes, Ford worked for Edison. A shared passion for innovation was their link.
1914- In the year prior over 180,000 units sold of the Model T only to be beat in 14' by over 250,000. Even while experiencing WILD success with the Model T during this time the NY Times quoted Mr. Ford by saying “Within a year, I hope, we shall begin the manufacture of an electric automobile,” in January 1914. “The problem so far has been to build a storage battery of light weight which would operate for long distances without recharging.” This is the same ideal and principle Edison sought after to solve.
May 1914 - Mr. Ford said, “It’s coming.” And he was proclaiming an EV revolution in the works. “The electric automobile will be the family carriage of the future.” During this time Henry Ford’s wife Clara drove an 80-mile ranged 1914 Detroit Electric and was an early EV advocate.
When ICE systems started replacing hand-cranks with electric-starter devices, the EV world at this time was stricken of a key selling point: ease of use. Unlike ICE at the time that needed to be started with a hand-crank, battery-powered automobiles didn’t take a lot of muscle to operate. The culprit to this was GM's Charles Franklin Kettering as he created the first electric starter for the ICE system in 1912, thus negating a big sore thumb (the crank start) for the ICE makers.
After $1.5M investment into the EV idea by Ford, it was shelved until about the 1950's when battery technology was once again starting to be a focus of auto makers.
1960's - Environmentalism swept America. "Congress passed laws that served as significant precedents for future legislative action on pollution issues—for instance, the Clean Air Acts of 1963 and 1967, the Clean Water Act of 1960, and the Water Quality Act of 1965. During the 1960s, environmentalism became a mass social movement" . The Wall Street Journal reported in October 1966 that Ford Motor Co. made a “major breakthrough in battery research.” The company claimed that its new batteries – using sodium-sulfur chemistry instead of lead acid – could store 15 times more energy than before.
1968- Ford said that road testing of a new production electric car would begin. "Small motors might be mounted in the wheels." with its experimental all-electric Comuta minicar.
This EV tech gave the user four 12-volt batteries that provided about 40 miles of range topped at 35 miles per hour.
Environmentalism never died - it slowly grew as a movement until the 1990's and early 2000's when California really drove zero-emissions.
1999 - Fords invests $23 million to buy Think Global - a Norwegian EV company that had been around since 91'. After $100 million in battery development Ford began production of Think City - a 53 mile ranged lightweight 2 passenger car with a top speed of 55 mph. Unfortunately Ford gave this up in 2002 as they wanted to divert resources to the commercial end of the company.
1998-2002 - The EV ranger (and its coming back "rumors" after exciting) - this dream was crushed by the laxing of the California ZEV mandates. Most of these trucks (only 1500 produced) were destroyed by Ford and never got out to the publics hands.
In the 2000's Toyota made a big splash with the Prius - a hybrid EV ICE system that captivated consumers. Ford's response after (sitting back and watching consumer reaction - this is key*) was to use the Focus platform for the fully EV car. "The EV variant, which went into production by 2011, used a 23 kilowatt-hour battery pack officially rated to provide 76 miles of range.
When it was introduced, the Focus Electric was the only pure EV that looked and drove like a so-called normal car."...."Even as Ford increased the size of the battery in 2017 to 33.5 kilowatt-hours – expanding its range to 115 miles – the Focus Electric was an also-ran. All told, Ford sold about 9,300 units before the company killed the Focus Electric (and most of its cars) in April 2018."
Fast forward through the hybrid era, we get to 2018 when Ford released an image for the first vehicle to be produced in the company’s new EV era. The profile of a Mustang-inspired 300-mile electric SUV was a huge step forward into the transition to EV by an ICE auto maker.
2019 - "DEARBORN, Mich., April 24, 2019 – Rivian today announced an equity investment of $500 million from Ford Motor Company. In addition to the investment, the companies have agreed to work together to develop an all-new, next-generation battery electric vehicle for Ford’s growing EV portfolio using Rivian’s skateboard platform."
TLDR:
Lets ask a question: Is Ford really as behind the curve to EV as we are led to believe? IMO ABSOLUTELY NOT. Ford, since DAY 1 has always known this era would come. It is not a surprise at all. In fact, I truly believe it a welcomed transition - a 120 year long process gives you A LOT of time to build ideas on.....
All sources are recorded and can be sent if requested ( I cannot post a list of all 22 hyperlinks here)
