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posted by CoolHand on Monday December 14 2015, @09:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the rock-on-to-electric-avenue dept.

Ford announced that it would be investing some $4.5 billion over the next five years toward its goal of building better "electrified vehicle solutions" and bringing electrification to 40% of its vehicle lineup by 2020. Seeing as transportation is a key climate issue, it's only fitting to learn about Ford's sharpened focus on EVs as a solution. According to the company, it will be adding 13 new electrified vehicles to its portfolio by 2020, which could offer more options for the potential EV customers who aren't currently able to drive electric, either because of price or driving range or size.

The most significant news in the near future of Ford's electric vehicle lineup is the rollout of the new Focus Electric next year, which will feature a 100-mile range and a DC fast-charging system that is claimed to give the vehicle an 80% charge in 30 minutes, a full two hours faster than the current model. No announcement was made about the price of the new Focus Electric, but based on last year's model prices, it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000. That's not exactly an entry-level car purchase, but it's a lot more affordable than a Tesla at the moment, and if a pure EV fits your driving habits, it could slash your fuel bills for years and be a cleaner transport option than a fuel-efficient gas car.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday December 15 2015, @02:43AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 15 2015, @02:43AM (#276493) Journal

    Tesla is likely one of the stimuli that is pushing Ford and the other major auto makers. More people want Tesla's vehicles than there are vehicles. If the auto makers sit on their thumbs for much longer, they may find that Tesla has a near monopoly on electric vehicles. Had they made the first move, all future EV's would have to measure up to Ford's vehicles. Having allowed Tesla to have center stage for a few years already, Ford is going to have to measure up to Tesla's offerings. If they fail to measure up in any aspect, they will be punished by the market, and Tesla will be rewarded.

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday December 15 2015, @01:16PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday December 15 2015, @01:16PM (#276629) Journal

    I would say it goes deeper than making an electric car. Tesla has built an electric car, but they've also re-thought the entire car, with over-the-air upgrades, autopilot, supercharger networks, leveraging a battery factory to supply cars and homes...the other auto companies have deep pockets but Elon Musk has strategic vision that has Tesla playing 3 dimensional chess while everyone else is playing checkers.

    All you have to know about their potential is to look at how much they've already disrupted the auto business with their tiny production line. Once their battery factory comes online and their mass-market Model 3 becomes available, it'll be all she wrote for the internal combustion engine.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.