Ford CEO Announces New 'Model T Moment'
- Editor OGN Daily
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Jim Farley to reveal it's long-awaited cheap EV platform on 11 August, saying that "This is a Model T moment for us at Ford."
In summer 2024, the Ford boss acknowledged that American consumers are in “love with these monster vehicles” but said they need to “get back in love” with small cars. “We have to start to get back in love with smaller vehicles. It’s super important for our society and for EV adoption.” Earlier this year, he doubled down on that statement and said the company would focus on small to medium-sized electric vehicles that present a stronger economic case. This is against the backdrop of a $5 billion hit on EVs last year.
Most recently, during Ford's second-quarter earnings call, he announced part of his solution would be unveiled on 11 August - calling it "a Model T moment," referring to Ford's pioneering vehicle of the early 1900s, says InsideEVs. It was one of the earliest mass-produced, affordable cars and put America on wheels.
Ford has been searching for a while to compete with American upstart Tesla and get in on its EV (and stock price) action. Electrification has been a tough road for the Blue Oval, so to shift gears, Ford set up a "skunkworks" team to design a low-cost EV that would be profitable within 12 months of launch, and the big reveal is coming up next Monday.
The event will be in Kentucky, probably at one of its new battery plants in the state. Making Ford's batteries in America, with a supply chain not dependent on China, would be a massive leap forward for domestic electrics - even if some of the actual tech is licensed from Chinese company CATL.
Putting cheap batteries into a cheap electric platform makes complete sense. It's what the consumer wants. If Ford can nail a reliable EV at less than $30,000, that really would be a game-changer. Is it a Model T-level game-changer? That's a very high bar to clear. Then again, Tesla never did come out with its own cheap EV, so maybe Ford has a big opportunity here all to itself.