Read why I think we should stick with gas engines and hybrids here:

Ford Needs to Pull the Plug on All-Electric Vehicles - Ford Trucks

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Should Ford continue to make all-electric vehicles?

 

Where to even begin?!

Facts are always helpful. The average annual mileage statistics from the US DOT are available here:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm
And we could work a little math-magic on them, assuming 60 miles on a charge (conservative) and 260 days of commuting a year (no vacations for this bean counter). That's 15,600 miles available to drive each year... for "work"... Seems on the high end of average, although I concede the range is an issue for any type of road trip. Many families have multiple vehicles, and many work vehicles have very specific routes, so the range is only an issue for emergency trips and/or single car families (although rentals might solve that problem, in a bind).


The lease options on the electric focus are pretty much spectacular at the moment. So here I am, buying a "work" vehicle with zero fuel and oil costs for the duration of that lease. Relatively low payments (Ford gains the tax benefits from the all electric powertrain, passing the savings onto us as consumers), and low low maintenance costs, equal a pretty sweet deal for the Company Wagon.

And wow, how inconvenient it is to charge. We are limited to charging up only where there are electrical outlets, and electrical outlets are virtually nowhere in the US (except everywhere). Is a full electric less convenient than a gas powered Focus? Yes. Did Henry Ford stop building cars because trucks could haul more? He** No. The electric vehicle serves an important market, and builds infrastructure for a future market. Did you buy CDs before buying a CD Player!? Why would you buy a CD Player without owning any CDs?! In the newest vehicles, there's no need for a cd player, because a tiny thumb drive can hold thousands of CDs worth of music in a space smaller than a dime. Technology marches on, my friend. With, or without, Ford Motor Company.

Some of us are loyal to the Brand, yet almost forced to follow the market as it advances rapidly into the future. Nissan has fielded an all electric in F1, as has Porsche. Formula-E racing series (full size electric road racing) is off to a great first season. I want to drive a Ford, and to be proud of what that means. I'm elated that the new Mustang actually has an IFS!!! (It's about da** time) And, that there are F-550 and 650 hybrids available for line trucks (which power companies have been requesting since the early 2000's). Don't stop participating in the future, Ford, I want you to be there with us.

Considering the Hydrogen Powered Cadillac that delivered Jimmy Carter to his inauguration, or the extensive BMW and Mercedes development of hydrogen power in the 1970's and 80's... and the market share Tesla Motors is commanding, while breaking ground on a very large new battery manufacturing facility in Arizona (with a lower cost SUV in the works)... Ford should be proud of how competitive they are in the market for plug-ins and full electrics (compare Chevy Volt and EV Spark)!
Now is NOT the time to quit, it is the time to forge ahead, to innovate, to proliferate the EV Focus into Ford Racing hands, and onto SCCA tracks across the country. Racing IS R&D, and we bleed Ford Blue whether battery powered or gas.

See you all at the track.

 

EV's are fine for 90% of the driving typical Americans do.
The work commute or grocery getting.
I wouldn't expect this fact to be well received by an "Enthusiast" forum, but it is what it is...

Many people have plenty of opportunity to charge overnight.
Street parking city dwellers excepted. (but then who needs a car in Manhattan?)
Some people could charge while sitting at their desk for 8 hours.
They might even get a nice priority parking space in the corporate lot.

Look at what FedEx is doing with retrofitted EV delivery trucks in the Bay Area.

No ICE maintenance costs.
Not just the ignition, fuel, coolant and lubricant, but all the seals, hoses, belts and pumps that make it work.
Regenerative braking lowers the cost of pads and rotors too.

The tiny 2.7 EcoBoost in the 2015 F150 isn't getting better mileage that others see already but it is vastly more complex.
There's a fuel mileage thread in the '80-'86 forum.
David is seeing 19 in town and 22 highway from an '86 150 w/ 4.9l I-6!

Electricity is cheaper to produce and creates far less emissions on a 'per gallon equivalent' basis.
Clean, quiet, efficient (90+% for an electric motor between 100-200hp), less maintenance, what's not to like in an all electric vehicle?

The possibility of running out of charge???
The few times a year most people could rent a Uhaul for $19.95 a day or ZipCar to make a long distance trip?

 

"Ford needs to pull the plug?" So, just because there are problems to work out, they should just give up now? The Model T had about 20 hp, a top speed of about 45 mph, and only got about 15 mpg. That is horribly inefficient for such a low power engine. Oh yeah, and there wasn't any gasoline infrastructure back then either. I guess Ford should've just given up back then too, eh? This is a stupid article.

 

I think Ford needs to get their head out of the Alberta oil sand and their *** in gear before they get left behind.

What happened to "A Better Idea"?
Why the hell are they selling a worldmarket 6 speed diesel powered Ranger pickup everywhere but here?
Why can't I have a manual gearbox?
Why are they still reliant on piston power at all?

There are a LOT of questions for Ford, but "Should Ford continue to make EV's" is not one of them.

 

There may be a market and place a for EV's but, they are horribly expensive and there is likely no resale value at all unless things change drastically.

As for Hybrid vehicles, I think it's a decent concept but, they're best served in city driving. There are gas burners that get better HWY MPG's than a Hybrid and cost far less.

VW has affordable diesel options and they get in the high 40's to low 50's and can be had for as little as a Hybrid and the cool thing is, they gobs of power.

Now IMHO, a diesel Hybrid is worth working on.

 

Things ARE changing Tim.
I live in an affluent area and see at least a dozen Tesla's every day.
Yes, THEY are expensive.
Public lots have EV charging stations. (around here)
Supercharger stations on the local highway, six miles from here.

Hybrids like the Prius are traveling hundreds of thousands of highway miles and don't seem to be having significant battery failures yet.

The VW's are about the only small diesel here in the States.
Where are the Japanese? Where are the U.S. three???
Don't talk about torque. Electric is 100% from 0 rpm's
And don't try to tell me a MB Blutec is in most peoples automotive budget!

Major manufacturers want to sell/lease EV's to get their CAFE numbers down.
Even with the gutting of Federal fuel economy regulations States like California still have mandates for # of ZEV's sold.

If you think diesel hybrid, you ought to look at turbines to drive the generator.
The railroads have decades of squeezing every penny out of their fuel costs.
Diesel-electric okay, piston engines are far too wasteful.
Constant rpm, shifting load is the way to go there.

But this isn't a thread about the merits of various powerplants.
This is a thread asking if Ford should continue to make all-electric vehicles.

If they don't put in the R&D, and learn by trying, they will be left behind for dead.

 

It would be absolutely foolish for Ford, (or any of the big automakers, for that matter,) to quit making, or at least researching, EV's. Anyone who doesn't see that this is the way the market moving shouldn't be making these decisions. These new electric vehicles are becoming faster charging, longer lasting, and are moving to being able to plug into standard wall outlets, which are available, well, basically everywhere. Let's face it, gas motors, even though they've been around for so long, are reaching a plateau for efficiency. Burning a fuel like gasoline releases lots of heat, which does not bode well for efficiency. Engines today have a maximum thermal efficiency of about 25-30%, this means of all the energy that could be used by the hydrocarbons in that fuel, about 70%+ is lost right off due to heat. Then you add friction from all the moving parts and you've created a very inefficient machine. Electric motors have less moving parts and are getting better and better every year. We are not even close to what is predicted for electric motor efficiency. The only reason we've gotten this far on gas and diesel is the incredible hydrocarbon/potential energy in these fossil fuels. Not because we've got something really good in the internal combustion engine. I love my gas engines as much as the next guy. I love the way they work, the way they sound, and the way they smell (maybe weird?) and how you can tweak them to throw you back in your seat when you step on the gas. But we need to remember who we are on this site. We are TRUCK enthusiasts. Not exactly the people that electric vehicles are going to apply to (at least for a while, anyways) For most people, the electric vehicle is an excellent idea for a daily commuter, and won't pass the charge range on a daily basis. Lastly, we need to remember that Ford isn't in this for nostalgia, or anything else but MONEY. Any values or morals they want to project onto us is to increase their sales. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but the fact of the matter is, EV is going to be profitable in the coming years, and the companies that don't try and get into it early are going to fall behind. Anyone remember when gas powered cars first became a thing and horse-drawn carriage companies couldn't make the transition and they all failed? The modern car company is much better tooled to make EV's than carriage makers were for cars. The companies that don't invest in this technology are bound to fail. Simple as that.

 

Electric vehicles will make a better platform for building hybrids.

 

I've been driving my plug-in hybrid Ford Fusion Energi for one year now. It's primarily a commuter car, but it turns out I do 99% of all my driving in it. After owning NOTHING but Ford V8's with manual transmissions I didn't think I'd enjoy the Fusion all that much. Truth be told I bought it to drive in the carpool lane up HWY 101 into Silicon Valley every day- about 25 miles each way. It turns out I LOVE the car. On electricity it's silent and smooth. I can carry on a conversation through my bluetooth'd phone/car connection and people can't tell I'm even driving. It has adequate acceleration and fabulous mileage. My only beef is the 20-25 mile range, but I knew that going in. I drive about 300 miles a week and go to the gas station for fifty bucks in gas every month. The rest is electricity costs and being in CA I pay a lot for that.

Here's my mileage over the past year.



And here's a typical trip to work. I can charge at work, but it's even more expensive than at home. But in the big scheme of things, it's irrelevant since the cost is either on par or cheaper than gas. BTW on just gas I can get 40 to 55 MPG with it's Atkinson Cycle two stroke engine!

 

The 2014 Focus Energi has a starting price of about 35K. It's rated at 110 / 99 MPGe which Ford states is the EPA's equivalent to actual MPG's.

It has a 76 mile range on one charge and Ford is quick with the disclaimers too. Such maintenance, driving habits, battery age. That's to be expected.

IMHO, when the charge will take us the distance of a gas fill up on the same sized sibling, the buy in price would have some merit.

 

To be fair, gas powered vehicles have had almost all of the investment capital for pretty much all of their existence. Electric vehicles have not had NEAR the investment, or technology improvements. In fact, almost all ideas of electric transportation, or startup companies that started to get it going have been bought out, and run down by any one of the big three. We would be 20 years ahead technologically if it weren't for this. Yes, there's a lot to be desired with current EV's but it would be foolish to totally dismiss them or recommend Ford completely scrap the idea just because of it. We're not far from EVs being completely reasonable. This is how progress happens.

 

The problem with modern EVs is frills. Even the most basic cars now have to have power everything and a/c. All that stuff weighs a lot and sucks down power too.
Once I get the next year over with, I'm planning on building an EV out of another Courier, but with modern running gear and enough batteries for about 200miles range. Manual everything, and a two speed transaxle to allow for good acceleration with a smaller motor, and a diesel generator trailer for longer trips.

 

That's all well, good, true but, this is a time where shared technology would greatly benefit the consumer both on price, availability and advancements. Ford and GM are currently sharing ZF licensed transmission technologies, Ford and Mazda, GM and Nissan, etc.

I'm an average middle class guy with a decent income and a high sense of establishing value. I purchased my 2011 F-150 for 29K OTD. There's no way in hell that an EV is worth more to me than my truck and we all know that there is little to no haggle room on sedans these days let alone small ones and special vehicles.

The taxes on these vehicles are higher in some states such as Va since there won't be any tax income at the pump.

So while I agree that the EV program, alternate fuels programs and Hybrid programs deserve R&D $$$, it's a program that is currently very expensive. I'll wait on the sidelines until I see value.

 

There's zero sales tax on EV's here.... Along with EnergyStar rated appliances and things like rated windows and doors, any insulation etc....

Come buy one here in CT!
We sure could use the business.