Ford Midsize EV Truck News: Ford Skunkworks (EVDC) - first ever behind the scenes tour; sneak peek at EV pickup [WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[Chops]

The Lockheed secret area & team was named the “skunkworks” because of the smelly plastic odor there.

The original Henry Ford had a secret area & team that developed the Model T. No smelly plastics although historians cite this as the original “skunkworks”.

The current Ford EVDC probably smells more like the Lockheed edition than the original Ford version.

BTW, Cherokee, you look down a blouse and up a skirt.

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[jpdurr]

Id also chime in with safety standards. I dont believe their vehicle safety standards (like 5 star crash ratings) mean anything over there(or emission standards). so they can be built to a lower safety standard. Also why you dont tend to see them in countries that have safety requirements. (I could be wrong, and they could be building them safer lately, but that would be news to me since I last looked into china based car standards a couple years ago)

Any Chinese Car sold in the US Market would by definition, have to meet US Safety Standards. Your argument using safety is a non-starter here.

 

[MavStangVa]

EV? We don't need no stinking EVs! The tried and true method of transportation will never be replaced.

 

[winterc]

I was not opposed to Chinese EV’s until I found out about their gov’t subsidizes

Chinese cars are cheap because their government subsidized the cost. For that reason, how can American companies (and other foreign companies) compete against that.

When we talk about a 20k Chinese EV, we are not comparing apples to apples. And for those reasons, I am now fully in support of our gov’t banning Chinese EV’s I don’t think anyone wants our government to start paying Ford to produce EV’s.

In some ways they did with the 30% tax break and while we all loved it, it was a federal subsidy.

Bob

Bob all American automakers are subsidized one way or another. To get a plant in your city it costs a lot to win over other possible locations. Gump took away your EV subsidy so no way will the US compete with China for many years to come. Since I am Canadian I bought my Maverick because it was mainly built in Mexico.

 

[MavStangVa]

30k truck and you get a free unicorn with it.

 

[Fibrepunk]

EV? We don't need no stinking EVs! The tried and true method of transportation will never be replaced.

You got an Amish community close by?

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Dear peanut gallery, I live in a state that has the absolute best Kroger's gas program. I make aggressive use of gift cards for everything, buying them when K has their 4x points in place, which is every month. Most states cap the amount you can use at $1 per refueling incident and 35 gals max, but our state lets you us up to 100% of the price if you have enough points, or 0.9 cents/gal since they only work in whole numbers. I oftentimes get 35 gals for 0.9 cents/gal, and I have 50 gals worth of spare cans. My most recent fillup was not as aggressive but I believe I paid ~25 cents per gal. Since we get 50+mpg in city driving and 40+ on the highway, I'll average 45mpg. 25 cents will give me 12 gals of gas for $3 and about 540 miles of driving. No refueling in between and I buy gas once each month. And I haven't even shown how attractive it can be when I pay the absolute lowest price, which I have been fortunate to do fairly often. Can your EV beat that convenience?

Yes.
EV driver's hands don't stink like yours and they don't have to live in a flyover state with 17 locations that have that "program". Talk about limited refueling opportunities. Your sweet deal has 17 locations.

Look, EV's are not for everyone.
Even I have a hybrid Maverick.
I like to go to far away and off grid places. But EV's are powerful, fast, super convenient, and super fun to drive. Can't drive one without a grin. It's impossible.

America needs to drop the love affair with "all purpose vehicles". Purposeful vehicles are the way.
EV's are perfect for commuting.
Don't expect them to tow.
F-x50's are not for commuting or taking kids to school.

Maverick is kinda half-assed about everything. Gets by, but isn't excellent in any area. The fuel economy is good. But not excellent. And not much better than the first generation Escape hybrid 20 years ago. I'd get up to 54 MPG city in 2005. Highway was about 33 MPG.

 

[Huffy]

Yes.
EV driver's hands don't stink like yours and they don't have to live in a flyover state with 17 locations that have that "program". Talk about limited refueling opportunities. Your sweet deal has 17 locations.

Look, EV's are not for everyone.
Even I have a hybrid Maverick.
I like to go to far away and off grid places. But EV's are powerful, fast, super convenient, and super fun to drive. Can't drive one without a grin. It's impossible.

America needs to drop the love affair with "all purpose vehicles". Purposeful vehicles are the way.
EV's are perfect for commuting.
Don't expect them to tow.
F-x50's are not for commuting or taking kids to school.

Maverick is kinda half-assed about everything. Gets by, but isn't excellent in any area. The fuel economy is good. But not excellent. And not much better than the first generation Escape hybrid 20 years ago. I'd get up to 54 MPG city in 2005. Highway was about 33 MPG.

Great post, but the Maverick IS an all purpose Truck, not an Escape!

 

[kevinmccune]

I was not opposed to Chinese EV’s until I found out about their gov’t subsidizes

Chinese cars are cheap because their government subsidized the cost. For that reason, how can American companies (and other foreign companies) compete against that.

When we talk about a 20k Chinese EV, we are not comparing apples to apples. And for those reasons, I am now fully in support of our gov’t banning Chinese EV’s I don’t think anyone wants our government to start paying Ford to produce EV’s.

In some ways they did with the 30% tax break and while we all loved it, it was a federal subsidy.

Bob

you folks seem to forget how the petrochemical and AG industry is subsidized here in the US(at taxpayer expense and that's not counting outr other expenses,

 

[kevinmccune]

Yes.
EV driver's hands don't stink like yours and they don't have to live in a flyover state with 17 locations that have that "program". Talk about limited refueling opportunities. Your sweet deal has 17 locations.

Look, EV's are not for everyone.
Even I have a hybrid Maverick.
I like to go to far away and off grid places. But EV's are powerful, fast, super convenient, and super fun to drive. Can't drive one without a grin. It's impossible.

America needs to drop the love affair with "all purpose vehicles". Purposeful vehicles are the way.
EV's are perfect for commuting.
Don't expect them to tow.
F-x50's are not for commuting or taking kids to school.

Maverick is kinda half-assed about everything. Gets by, but isn't excellent in any area. The fuel economy is good. But not excellent. And not much better than the first generation Escape hybrid 20 years ago. I'd get up to 54 MPG city in 2005. Highway was about 33 MPG.

yes,out Joat vehicles are at best compromises,probably 80% as good as purpose built tools for the need.kinda like mowing your yard with a ATV or using a rechargeable drill as an impact driver,you can get by with compromises. bring it on Ford getting tired of oil and filter changes.

 

[kevinmccune]

So it'll have more than 200 miles of range, and the interior won't be basic. It won't be on the level of a 80 grand Cadillac, but the team wanted to create affordable vehicles that didn't that the Slate approach of needing to be shitty to be affordable. Apparently it's gonna have one of the most advanced interiors despite being one of Ford's cheapest vehicles.

Regarding trim level, engineers told journalists they might consider doing one trim level where all the vehicles were fully stacked. I looked that up, it means fully loaded. So building one trim of truck which saves a huge amount of money, but also making it a nice trim level so customers are happy.

IDK if that ends up being accurate, but it makes a lot of sense consider the goals of the project, and the unique assembly tree process that will be a lot easier to join those three sections into one vehicle at the end of the assembly process if they're all the same trim level.

We're also gonna get a lot of custom accessories apparently. So this truck is gonna be like the Slate truck, but actually good essentially. Like it's gonna be low cost, and be easy to mod, but have a nice interior, a much better range than the slate, and be much faster.

we might see the "Telo" for awhile,seriously doubt if the "slate" makes it, seen a hideous "cybertruck" yesterday in a black wrap.

 

[kevinmccune]

Dear peanut gallery, I live in a state that has the absolute best Kroger's gas program. I make aggressive use of gift cards for everything, buying them when K has their 4x points in place, which is every month. Most states cap the amount you can use at $1 per refueling incident and 35 gals max, but our state lets you us up to 100% of the price if you have enough points, or 0.9 cents/gal since they only work in whole numbers. I oftentimes get 35 gals for 0.9 cents/gal, and I have 50 gals worth of spare cans. My most recent fillup was not as aggressive but I believe I paid ~25 cents per gal. Since we get 50+mpg in city driving and 40+ on the highway, I'll average 45mpg. 25 cents will give me 12 gals of gas for $3 and about 540 miles of driving. No refueling in between and I buy gas once each month. And I haven't even shown how attractive it can be when I pay the absolute lowest price, which I have been fortunate to do fairly often. Can your EV beat that convenience?

you still change oil and filters? and most are not that fortunate as you,you will probably see fuel points go away and if Kroger survives much longer it will be iffy.

 

[ychuck46]

you still change oil and filters? and most are not that fortunate as you,you will probably see fuel points go away and if Kroger survives much longer it will be iffy.

If Kroger survives? Are you serious? They are one of the most successful grocery chains in the country. And their gas program can be a loss leader for them and it would still be successful since it insures a lot of loyalty from their base. In our 16 years here we have never grocery shopped anywhere else, and we know many in that same boat.

 

[ychuck46]

Yes.
EV driver's hands don't stink like yours and they don't have to live in a flyover state with 17 locations that have that "program". Talk about limited refueling opportunities. Your sweet deal has 17 locations.

And the snarkiness of the EV proponents continues on full display with comments like "flyover state". I could make a comment about your special kind of state but I won't go down that rat hole, since I lived in one of those special states for many years and was extremely happy to escape it (and also escape from many of the people who lived in them). Their willingness to proselytize to everyone about their EV obsession is amazing, particularly since most of us don't care about their opinion. Have a great day regardless.

 

[MavStangVa]

You got an Amish community close by?

Within an hour of here.

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