"Model T moment": Ford announces its own e-cars for 2027
Ford wants to reinvent the electric car and its production in order to finally get into the black. From 2027, the cars are to be produced on a new basis.
Doug Field, responsible for electric mobility and design at Ford, promises the workers at the Ford plant in Louisville a better future
(Image: Ford)
Ford announces electric cars based on its technology for 2027. A week ago, Ford boss Jim Farley spoke of a “Model T moment” to generate attention for this significant innovation. This is no small claim, considering how much the Model T not only catapulted Ford to the forefront well over 100 years ago, but also turned the car industry as a whole upside down. However, today's buns are definitely smaller: there is now talk of being the first car manufacturer to produce prismatic LFP batteries in the USA. Ford is also emulating Tesla to streamline and reduce the cost of production as well as the vehicle itself. In the process, the assembly line is to be rethought – once again.
Orientation towards Tesla
This is because Ford's electric car models, not only in Germany but also in the USA, are sometimes lagging far behind the technical standard and are unnecessarily losing a lot of money due to their expensive production. In Germany, Ford buys electric car technology from Volkswagen, which is expensive in itself and cannot make a profit in the medium term. The need for action is urgent, and possible solutions are therefore being desperately thrown at internally with billions.
The Ford boss then also ventures far ahead by promising lower operating expenses over five years for a Ford on the upcoming basis than for a Tesla Model Y over three years on the subject of “improved efficiency in customer hands”. However, he is comparing a car that is due to be released in 2027 with one that has been built almost unchanged since 2020.
Lighter and simpler
Farley announces that the upcoming technical electric car base will have a fifth fewer parts, a quarter fewer fastening elements, and, thanks to reduced production steps, will enable 15 percent faster production. For example, the wiring harness in the upcoming electric pick-up model will be around 10 kilograms lighter than that in the current model after being shortened by over 1.3 kilometers. Recognizably close on the heels of Tesla, Ford is now also following suit with large one-piece pressed parts made of light metal, which are to replace dozens of smaller parts. In this way, Ford wants to assemble the front and rear of the vehicle separately and thus save work steps, which actually brings certain advantages with Tesla's so-called “gigacasting”. None of the announcements are recognizably revolutionary, as was the case with the Model T. They include known and proven methods and practices, at least as far as Ford has already communicated today.
The prismatic lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries mentioned above have long been used by the competition as a cost-reducing solution, even if their use actually requires battery preconditioning. Underfloor mounting, which also serves as a vehicle floor, is also already state-of-the-art as “cell-to-body.”
The fact that the upcoming electric pick-up truck “will probably have more passenger space than the latest Toyota RAV4” does not sound like a radical innovation. Neither does the promise that you can “strap your surfboards or other equipment onto the loading area” and that “no roof racks or towbars are required”. This has been known since the first pickup trucks were sold by Galion Allsteel Body Company on the chassis of a – yes – Ford Model T around 110 years ago.
However, the upcoming electric pick-up is expected to accelerate to 100 km/h as quickly as a Ford Mustang EcoBoost. The waste benefit of the powerful electric platform is not really a selling point, especially for a commercial vehicle, but you can give it a try. Ford will announce further specifications, including the launch date, fuel consumption, battery sizes, and charging times, at a later date. The price is expected to be 30,000 US dollars (around 25,800 euros).
“Universal EV production system”: production on an “assembly tree”
Instead of an assembly line, Ford wants to produce electric cars on an “assembly tree” in the future. Three assemblies run in parallel on separate production lines and are brought together at a suitable point. The one-piece aluminum unicastings allow the front and rear of the vehicle to be assembled separately and the battery to be inserted from below, with the seats, console, and carpets already mounted on the housing before it is added to the upper section. This type of assembly should not only be more efficient but also “drastically” improve ergonomics for employees by reducing twisted and bent postures. It should also “significantly” improve the quality of assembly and lead to “cost gains.”
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Ford intends to make a major investment to upgrade the BlueOval Battery Park Michigan so that prismatic LFP batteries with a capacity of 20 GWh per year can be built there for pick-up trucks under license from Chinese battery giant CATL from next year. Together with funds for the Louisville plant, the investment amounts to around five billion dollars. Almost 4,000 jobs are to be “created or secured” in both plants.
(fpi)