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

[MavStangVa]

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.

Grew up in Cincinnati, Kroger headquarter town, now I live in a different state where there are Kroger stores. Even in Cincinnati Kroger was NOT the cheapest grocery choice. If you buy sale items and ONLY sale items you will save over other stores. But the regular prices are higher on everything. Here a 1/2 gallon of milk at Kroger is 75 to 90 cents more than Food Lion. Store brand shredded wheat, Kroger is 1.50 a box higher and Kellogg's at both are twice the price of store brand. My problem with Kroger is the way they do their "sale" prices." For instance I went to buy 7-UP zero. $7.49 for a 6 pack of bottles but on sale buy 3 get 3 free. I don't need 36 bottles at a time. Food Lion if it is BOGO and you buy 1 item they charge you half price, they do not require you to buy more than you want to get the sale price. Also here Kroger gas is usually higher priced than the tier 1 gas suppliers and the points are not worth it in my opinion. Since I would need to purchase fuel additives to add to the Kroger gas I might as well go to Shell. Some of the Shell stations near me accept Kroger points though.

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[Cancunbadlands]

Is it the end of the 2.0l ecoboost engine?!

 

[Scupking]

If this really is 30k and gets 300 mile range then the Slate is dead... It's not for me as I have no interest in an EV. I like hybrids. I'm sure with improved battery tech we could see future Maverick hybrids getting 50mpg!

 

[Scott Asheville]

>> Maverick is kinda half-assed about everything

Wow. Just wow. I didn't realize my reliable, comfortable, affordable, highly equipped Maverick AWD was half-assed about everything. I'm gonna have to go out and have a talk with it about getting better. Maybe after these rain showers pass.

I know what I'll do. I'll tell it that it's heated seats and steering wheel, AWD, unlimited range, safety tech and rear seats have been declared socially unacceptable. And that I'm just going to have to cancel it.

That dang deplorable Maverick. What was I ever thinking buying one and getting 38,000 miles and 4 years of happy ownership from it? I am so humiliated by our shared inferiority. I think I'm going to cry now.

 

[Blue_Max]

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.

Kroger shafted Lake County, Florida:
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/lake-county-explore-ways-get-back-incentives-from-kroger

 

[Geo8866]

You guys gotta stop quoting A. I.
:’P
I don’t have the need to know before it happens. But when it does, I’d bet Ford
Will give us a game changer.

If you are referring to the OP's post, it is not AI. It was in the Wall Street Journal yesterday.

 

[grandpopa'sMPGs]

There is a song about skunkworks.

 

[ychuck46]

Kroger shafted Lake County, Florida:
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/lake-county-explore-ways-get-back-incentives-from-kroger

The same kind of business decision made by companies every day here and around the world. Kroger is in business to make money; if those locations were lucrative enough they would still be open. Obviously they weren't.

 

[gzebrick]

We have our 25 Mav AWD Lariat with 4 K towing, and have had a 23 Bolt EUV, a 23 Bolt EV in the stable (both sold) and now we have a 25 Escape PHEV (same powertrain as the MAV hybrid but with a much bigger battery and home charging) as well as a 24 Hyundai Ioniq sedan AWD Limited (a loaded up-scale EV with 0-60 ~ 4.5 seconds!). We have a level-2 32 amp dedicated charge line in our garage that we swap between the Ioniq and the Escape PHEV.

• I would never recommend an EV as anyone's' only vehicle unless you very rarely drive over 100 miles, at least not in the southeast where charging stations are less numerous and less reliable.
• I would never recommend an EV as anyone's only vehicle unless you can charge over-night at home. 110v/15 amp level 1 from a common 120 outlet MIGHT be acceptable for those with daily drivers < 40 miles, but a level-2 is preferred.
• I would never recommend an EV to for consistent REAL TRUCK work like hauling large loads OR towing anything remotely large or heavy any distance.

I absolutely recommend EVs if...

• You have an alternative ICE vehicle for longer trips (> 250 miles or so). Sure you -can- use an EV but if you can afford an alternative, either as a 2nd car, or as a rental, ICE is still much less stressful. In addition, at the cost of charging at those interstate level-3 chargers, you're not going to save (much) money, even at today's gas prices.
• You can plug in at home every night (in Memphis, it cost about $1.20 to go 40 miles in an EV that gets 4 miles/kWh). About 1/3 - 1/4 the cost of a gasoline.

When we got our first EV 3 years ago, I went in thinking it would be our "2nd" car. We put in the 220v line (GM paid for it!) and within 1 week it evolved to be our primary car. EVERY trip was EV unless we were going out of town, or my wife and 1 needed to go to 2 places at the same time (she always took the EV).

They cost less to operate, less to maintain, have instant torque and can be a blast to drive. They make great vehicles for most trips as long as you can charge them at home. My daughter's Escape PHEV makes a nearly perfect ONLY car for her, assuming she can plug it in at night (120v will do) she'll get ~40 miles of battery-only range every day with the gas engine ready to take over and go any distance same as any ICE car without worring about charging. It would be even better if Ford would have made the battery 2x for 80 miles range, but as it is now, she barely uses any gas in it.

I think the MAV makes a great compliment to an EV, especially a CUV or sedan. EV for around town car stuff/MAV for truck , towing and road trips).

For MAV owners, I think FORD's EV project's SUV style , not truck, might make a better choice once they present it.

 

[Old Young Man]

I know there is an article in the Wall Street journal today, have not read it yet.

 

[icegradner]

Its not a big secret that Ford is working on a small unibody EV, there are threads on here already with official coverage from Ford…

 

[grandpopa'sMPGs]

the EB mav should be replaced with an Atkinson 3.5L v6 with a 2.2Kwhr battery and alowed to pull a 6000 pound trailer at frontal area of 70 SQFT

 

[Suzukiridr14]

I had a Bolt EV for 6 years.
I spent less time recharging it than refueling my Maverick.

Took 30 seconds to plug in the cord once every 2 weeks. 30 seconds to unplug it. That comes to 2 minutes per month "refueling".
How much time do you spend refueling?

Most; not all of my 60,000 miles came from photovoltaic solar panels. The collage here had a whole parking lot covered by them. Charging was free to students and staff, and cost only $2 for visitors. (Recently went to $3)

250 miles for $3.

How far do you drive on $3 right now?

The peanut gallery wants to know.

Let's face it, not everyone has the same resources like solar panels, free charging at school etc. Some people have it better then you. COMPANY CARS! don't pay for the car, insurance, or gas. Everyone tries to get what best for them in there situation.

 

[OneAlienBoi]

JFC guys, can we ever have a discussion on EVs that doesn't get heated and/or political lol? Here are some close ups of the truck under a tarp. The hood is shorter than a maverick, and angles down near the leading edge for areo, but overall, the shape isn't as radical as I was expecting.

It looks a little squared off if anything. I also love the character lines running over the front and rear wheels. Especially in the front where the line on the front fenders appears to connect directly to the line that runs across the top of the front fascia.

This design is giving me maverick meets mustang vibes and that's awesome.

 

[Blue_Max]

The same kind of business decision made by companies every day here and around the world. Kroger is in business to make money; if those locations were lucrative enough they would still be open. Obviously they weren't.

I guess you didn't even look at the article. Kroger decided to renege on its agreement that provided it a huge tax incentive:

On Tuesday, the Lake County Board of Commissioners voted to terminate its agreements with Kroger and Ocado Group, following Kroger's November announcement that it would close three of its fulfillment facilities, including the one in Groveland, Florida.

As part of that decision, county leaders said it would keep the $400,000 tax incentive for Kroger and redirect it to help those employees impacted by the upcoming closure. Leaders also said they will also make an effort to collect the tax incentives awarded to Kroger from 2022-2024, totaling $1.3 million.

Under the agreement:

- Lake County will keep the 2025 tax incentive ($400,000)

- That money will be redirected to other areas: $40,000 towards road improvements, $360,000 in workforce support programs

- County hopes to get reimbursed for the $1.3M in incentives awarded to Kroger in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

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