Ford CEO promises low cost EV as he takes aim at American love of “monster” cars

Ford CEO Jim Farley has taken aim at America’s love of “monster vehicles” and called for people to “get back in love with smaller vehicles” if electric vehicle (EV) adoption is to continue to impact change across society.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Farley, said the weight “is the enemy” of EVs, and describing the issue as “the number one focus other than energy efficiency”.

“Advanced materials, additive manufacturing, with new body structures, and new large castings … will be able to take a lot of weight and complexity out of the vehicle,” he said. But he also called for more smaller vehicles, declaring that “we have to start to get back in love with smaller vehicles.”

“It’s super important for society and for EV adoption. We are just in love with these monster vehicles, and I love them too, but it’s a major issue with weight.”

Farley also made mention of his “Skunk Works’ team” who are supposedly “measuring wattage and usage for every system in the vehicle to get the battery as small as possible” and is being led by Alan Clarke, former chief engineer for the Tesla Model Y and Model 3.

The small “skunk works” team – a reference to Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division, which has long been developing top secret and advanced aircraft – was namedropped earlier in the year in an investor call as working “to create a low-cost EV platform”.

Farley said his company would “bet the company” on its skunk works team, and revealed that it was “shooting for a $30,000 car” that would be profitable and released within two and a half years.

He said it was intended to compete with the long touted model “Tesla 2”, and the low cost offerings from BYD and other China car makers.

The promise and impetus for an affordable Ford EV comes at the same time as the company struggles with lagging demand for its own monster vehicle, the F-150 Lightning pickup truck, or ute.

“These big, huge, enormous EVs, they’re never going to make money, the battery is $50,000, even with low nickel, LFP chemistry, the batteries will never be affordable,” he said. Ford revealed huge losses from its EV division earlier this year, equivalent to more than $US100,000 a vehicle.

Ford has since revealed a slow down in spending on its EV plans, but Farley says that what capital is spent is directed towards “smaller, more affordable EVs.”