Will Ford increase production of Mavericks?

[NJ Pinelands]

I don't disagree they are diversifying. They were the second largest EV manufacturer last year behind Tesla and they only have two EV models. So, it makes sense to invest in that area if people are buying it. And there is demand. If the Maverick was pure electric, got 500 miles of summer a/c range, and wasn't cost prohibitive, I would be tempted to buy it. But I also work from home and a tank of gas lasts me two months in my 2006 Saturn. So, there is that.

Ford's CEO has said publicly there are segments where electric cannot replace ICE. GM is going all in on electric. Ford appears to be doing both. RAM/Dodge seem to be following Ford's lead. Even Toyota has no plans to leave the ICE business as they have been expanding their engine plant in North Alabama.

Bad policy usually corrects itself once reality sets in. Even California says you can still drive an ICE car, you just can't buy one. If I'm a Nevada dealership on the border, I start expanding my lot.

Unless California tries to take peoples rights away by not allowing them to buy a gas truck or car in another state and registering it in California. Then folks will register it with Aunt Betty and Uncle Merle’s address in Nevada and drive around California with Nevada plates.

Sponsored

 

[xplorguy]

What I'm trying to say is a hybrid is the next best thing. So it would make sense just to build hybrids untill they go full ev. Build no more full ice vehicles.

We have to realize Ford cannot get the components to build more hybrids...that is why they are constrained to 30 plus percent of the 2023 production. In my opinion, the bank closed because of the way excessive number of orders for the hybrid...around 80 percent of the customer orders! Once they analyze the orders and match to available components they may re-open the bank for additional orders..but they will be mostly ICE trims and may be available for Dealer orders only...This is based on information as delivered from Ford to the dealers over the last 10 days..and a bit of speculation on my part.

 

[Amator]

My last car was a Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid with a 44 mile range. Doesn't seem like a lot, but it got me to work and back home most days, and if I ran out of range I still got 40mpg. It took a while to charge, but since I just plugged it in when I got home at night, it was always ready to go the next morning and I didn't have to worry about the poor EV infrastructure in South Carolina. The downside is that you have two engines to potentially break, but it was reliable for the four years I owned it until I sold it to go grad school in NYC. I got my order in for a '23 XL Hybrid, and if there was a PHEV option, I would have gone for it. I'm hoping the delay might work to my advantage and it'll arrive around the time I graduate in May, but if not I'll find a plan b.

 

[Chance301]

Afraid the urgency to go total EV is ultimately going to be a gigantic boondoggle. The capacity of the electric grid just isn’t there and won’t be if we’re relying on green renewable energy sources. Further intensive development of phev vehicles makes the most sense. The ability to use standard 110v to achieve reasonable electric only range (50-100 miles) would probably meet the daily driving requirements of a majority of commuters and other “ everyday “ drivers. Would think that improvements enabling hybrids to exceed 100 or more mpg in ice mode are also possible. Believe it would result in immediate environmental improvements without the desperate need to make expensive (and still polluting) major expansion to the power grid.
There also does’t appear to have been adequate research on development of hydrogen fueled vehicles and hydrogen fuel generation. Wonder if developing a nationwide hydrogen production infrastructure would be less expensive than rebuilding the power grid?
EV’s have been the “next best thing “ several times over the past 100 plus years but have always been left behind due to more efficient alternatives. Spending billions to make today’s EV the technology du jour may look like a bad decision tomorrow.

 

[icegradner]

Obviously you didn't read the attachment related to EV's or the attachment on what polutents are being added to the environment to make a battery...or considered where the waste from dumping dead batteries will leave...the thinking that this is a solution that can be implemented by 2035 and make the world a better place is a pipe dream....and the idea that fossil fuels will go away and make the world a better place is pretty dumb...and your take on past generations is warped....you are lucky those past generations provided you with what you have and instead of condeming them you should be praising them. By the way...ever look at the amount of polution the US puts into the universe compared to other leading nations? It might surprise you.....espeicialy since one of the latest reports claimed Global Warming is overstated and the timeline exaggerated......hydrogen powered vehicles would be safer then this EV craze if the Auto industry pursued it more actively...

Every BEV hater I've seen over the past number of years posted your source, seen it more than enough times. Frankly I never said that making and using batteries don't cause pollution, you just believe I think that. There is nothing that we manufacture that doesn't cause pollution at one end of the items life span or another. If you'd bothered to read my first response, you would have known that I fully acknowledge that. I also said the reason to push for EV's is to reduce pollution in cities, never did I say it would eliminate pollution. Nor did I say that we currently in position to eliminate the use of oil for it's many purposes.

Hydrogen safer, how so? Hydrogen power vehicles are still EVS, the hydrogen generator is just used to power an electric motor, they still have a battery, not as big as an BEV, but still bigger than most hybrids. So now you have hydrogen and a lithium Ion battery in a vehicle, great! Guess that blows a hole in your theory of it being safer eh? Oh and let's not forget how we acquire hydrogen to put in the tank, hint it requires a lot of power and most of what we use comes from unclean power, and harvested by means of fracking natural gas. Then it has to be transported to filling stations. Sounds like it's no better to me than mining lithium as it stands today. In an ideal world we would have fusion power generation, but that's a way off yet.

Of course, just as there is better, safer, cleaner battery technology coming, so to are safer, cleaner ways of acquiring hydrogen. Both are solutions that are good stop gap solutions for different applications. To me hydrogen is the solution for applications that require a lot of range, and large vehicles, while BEVs are the best solution for inter city transportation, which makes up most peoples needs.

As for nations being good and bad for pollution, get a grip, we are all part of the problem, and all need to be part of the solution. Do you even realize how much global pollution comes from production of good, from those "dirty" countries you didn't name, to fulfill the demand for stuff that we in North American demand to have instant access to? If you really believe we produce as little you think, do some research. Our big companies moved production to places like China, Thailand, India and such to get around the wages our workers get, and to get around our pollution laws. Just because the location moved, doesn't mean we aren't responsible.

 

[Impetus19]

Hydrogen fuel cell cars don't necessarily need a battery, they only are there for use with regenerative brakes. I don't know why they have made it seem like those batteries are required. Surely the vehicle will be more efficient with them as regenerative breaking does require a battery.

It has always been toyota's position that hydrogen fuel cells were a better alternative to batteries. Not that they ever really built many. Personally, i think a shift from gas to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles would be an easier transition than gas to BEVs. That's just my position, since i dont know how we can ever create enough batteries to be predominantly BEV drivers.

 

[RLader]

Because EV's are the future, not the present. Ford (plus GM and everyone else) have massive battery plants under construction. Seems they will be coming on line in 2024 or 2025. So expect to see EV's become more available and prices moderate in 2025 and 2026. Until then they keep building ICE engines.

At this point the EB and EV are two different vehicles: automatic transmission vs. cvt, 4,000 lb. towing vs. ? You can find more but those two alone keep me from buying a hybrid. To each his own. If the hybrid suits you that is good.

 

[Last Truck Ever]

We have to realize Ford cannot get the components to build more hybrids...that is why they are constrained to 30 plus percent of the 2023 production. In my opinion, the bank closed because of the way excessive number of orders for the hybrid...around 80 percent of the customer orders! Once they analyze the orders and match to available components they may re-open the bank for additional orders..but they will be mostly ICE trims and may be available for Dealer orders only...This is based on information as delivered from Ford to the dealers over the last 10 days..and a bit of speculation on my part.

If this is the case, Ford should open a brief window for existing order holders to change to EB, if they want to. Some won't change, but some would if it dramatically increased their chances of actually getting a truck.

IF they truly got more hybrid orders than they can possibly produce, Ford needs to schedule them now, at least a rough scheduling, and then tell every remaining hybrid order it ain't gonna happen. Stringing them along for a year or more is just unconscionable, especially since they know now whether it's doable or not.

 

[Timothyd]

Part and supplies shortages happen. Dealing with a ever changing situation in parts procurement does not mean they did it on purpose. Your assuming they did it knowing all along they weren't going to build those. That's makes zero sense as it gains them nothing in the short and long term.

Ford is not a start-up. They've been doing this for over a hundred years, literally. Yes, shortages happen and it's not impossible or even difficult to predict. Sense, THAT I'm not going to try to justify or apply logic or reason to. I'm not privy to the backroom decisions.

 

[Timothyd]

Sure, but will they add another shift? Open another line at a different plant? Or are they satisfied with filling their annual production quota in 7 days?

It's not that simple. Remember they shut down the line multiple times because if issues? And, they build them and they sit somewhere in a yard waiting for something. No extra shift is going to solve that. Then there's the recalls. The transportation issues. It's also a matter of getting their shit together.

 

[Timothyd]

If this is the case, Ford should open a brief window for existing order holders to change to EB, if they want to. Some won't change, but some would if it dramatically increased their chances of actually getting a truck.

IF they truly got more hybrid orders than they can possibly produce, Ford needs to schedule them now, at least a rough scheduling, and then tell every remaining hybrid order it ain't gonna happen. Stringing them along for a year or more is just unconscionable, especially since they know now whether it's doable or not.

Oooo. They tell that to me and the shit will hit the fan. After a year of waiting, a cancellation and a conversion........

Sponsored