Ford News
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In recent years, Ford Motor Company's plans for putting more plug-in electric cars on the road have been, shall we say, murky. GM has the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, sales of its Chevy Bolt EV 238-mile electric car have risen every month, and it plans a pair of all-electric SUVs by 2020—but Ford now offers just two vehicles that plug in. With Ford C-Max Energi production ended, its sole vehicles with plugs are the five-year-old Ford Fusion Energi and the even older Ford Focus Electric compliance car. DON'T MISS: Ford C-Max Energi plug-in production over; Hybrid has only months left...
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Ford C-Max Energi plug-in production over; Hybrid has only months leftThe Ford C-Max, launched as a 2013 model, never really served the purpose its maker intended. The tall five-door compact hatchback was intended to be Ford's counter to the successful Toyota Prius hybrid line, more stylish and comfortable inside with almost the same fuel-economy rating. Its owners'...
John Voelcker -
BMW, Mercedes, Ford, VW, Audi launch Ionity high-power fast charging across EuropeA group of automakers in Europe announced on Friday they will launch "Ionity," a network of high-power fast-charging stations to build out the continent's infrastructure for electric-car travel. When it's finished in 2020, Ionity will include 400 charging stations across multiple countries...
Sean Szymkowski -
UAW wakes up to job threat posed by electric cars, as German unions have alreadyWith an evolving shift to electrified and plug-in electric cars, the changes that will bring to the auto industry are far from limited to the powertrains. The entire mass-production and vehicle assembly process the industry pioneered a century ago will require major restructuring, it appears...
Sean Szymkowski -
Ford to cut engine funding by one third, invest in electrics, autonomyWhen Ford fired Mark Fields in May, it was widely seen as a rebuke to the CEO's inability to offer a convincing argument about how Ford would handle the future. Every car company is attempting to figure out that future, in which electrified vehicles, increasing autonomy, pervasive connectivity, and...
John Voelcker -
Ford Transit van with range-extended electric powertrain revealedAs European countries continue to crack down on emissions from road vehicles, automakers are stepping up with solutions to reduce levels of smog-causing nitrogen oxides, especially in city centers. Ford identified the commercial vehicle segment as one it believes is ripe for electrification, and...
Sean Szymkowski -
Ford was the first U.S. maker to build hybrid cars, starting in 2004, and it launched its Focus Electric hatchback in December 2011, just a year after the arrival of the Nissan Leaf. It also continues to sell Energi plug-in hybrid versions of its mid-size Fusion sedan and its compact C-Max tall hatchback, two vehicles now in their sixth model years. Aside from that, as other makers have ramped up their plug-in electric car efforts, Ford has been conspicuously absent. DON'T MISS: Ford fires CEO Fields, in part, for lagging on electric cars The lack of a coherent electric-car strategy and...
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We visited NYC's Ford Hub; we still don't know what it wasThose who've lived in New York City since 2001 sometimes choose to avoid the World Trade Center site when possible. The area has largely been rebuilt into a combination of offices, shopping, and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, with construction on some very tall towers still ongoing. A lunch date...
John Voelcker -
Lucid looking for savior, perhaps, after Ford declines to buy companyThe image of the electric car as the future of passenger vehicles has led to a wealth of start-up companies hoping to cash in on the newest type of automotive propulsion. Starting a company—an automobile company at that—is not an easy task, however. Now Lucid Motors (nee Atieva) may be...
Sean Szymkowski -
Hey, media, get it straight: "electrified" is NOT "electric," and the difference mattersOK, reporters of the world, it's time for a little chat. We know—believe me, we know—that you are cranking out a whole lot of copy, with much less support than you used to have, on far tighter deadlines, to feed a voracious, anonymous online audience whose clicks get you paid. But it's...
John Voelcker -
How to drive Ford C-Max Hybrid for best gas mileage? Owner video explainsPurchasing a hybrid vehicle makes for a slightly different ownership experience than a traditional gasoline-only car. There are always a few tips and tricks for owners to return the best mileage and range from electrified vehicles, and now a 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid owner has shared his secrets...
Sean Szymkowski -
2017 Ford Fusion Energi: low electric range, no public charging frustratingElectric-car charging infrastructure in the United States is getting better, but still has a very long way to go. While anyone that's given even a passing glance to plug-in vehicles would likely tell you the same thing, I experienced the impact of a charging-free society first-hand while driving a...
Brandon Turkus -
It's all the buzz of the auto industry this morning: Ford has fired its CEO Mark Fields and will replace him with Jim Hackett, former CEO of Michigan furniture maker Steelcase. Hackett presently oversees the Ford unit working on autonomous vehicles. The company is expected to make the announcement this morning, according to numerous media reports from sources briefed on the move. DON'T MISS: Ford plans 300-mile electric SUV, hybrid F-150 and Mustang, more U.S. production Articles confirming the expected firing came last night from both The New York Times and business magazine Forbes. Fields...
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Alt-fuel history: Ford Model T wasn't designed for multiple fuels, reallyThe myth surrounding the car that's credited with putting America on wheels simply isn't true: the Ford Model T was never meant to run fuels other than gasoline. The myth has circulated throughout the car's history, most recently thanks to the internet. It has mostly taken the form of a legend in...
Sean Szymkowski -
Most Fords will be hybrid or electric by 2025 ... in ChinaFord has aggressive electrification plans for China. In a recent announcement, the U.S. automaker said that 70 percent of the vehicles it sells in the country by 2025 will be hybrids—either plug-in or conventional—or fully electric. Ford builds vehicles in China through a joint venture...
Zach Bowman -
Q: Why is Tesla worth more than GM? A: The sins of DetroitIt remains unclear whether Tesla will survive as an independent company, given that it's had exactly two profitable quarters in its 12-plus years of existence. And yet, last week, Tesla briefly passed General Motors to become the most valuable U.S. automaker by market capitalization. It had passed...
John Voelcker -
What does it take to turn a Ford Fusion Hybrid into a Police Responder?The hybrid mid-size sedans sold today by Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota are all tuned to provide maximum fuel economy. So what did it take to fashion a standard Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan into the 2018 Ford Police Responder Hybrid Sedan that Ford introduced yesterday? The company's...
John Voelcker -
Ford Fusion becomes first police pursuit-rated hybrid carFord made a big splash last year when it announced it would launch 13 new electrified vehicles within five years. That was widely misreported as 13 new "electric" vehicles, which is to say either battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles—which isn't the case. It includes conventional...
John Voelcker -
As in other industries, "big data" is an increasingly common buzzword these days in discussions of electric cars. Last November, several research entities presented relevant data sets and advocated for their use at an electric-car "datathon" hosted by the White House. Putting theory into practice, Ford has now analyzed customer data to analyze how its electric cars and plug-in hybrids are used for the past few years. DON'T MISS: Real-world data more important than faith in boosting electric cars The Dearborn automaker believes cooperation with rivals is the next step in data utilization. Ford...
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Tesla has become a U.S. Big Three carmaker (by market value)Tesla Motors has spent more than 10 years beating the odds for startup automakers. Most new, independent makers barely survive long enough to produce a handful of vehicles, let alone sell more than 100,000 and garner praise from both customers and the media—as the electric-car startup has...
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Ford Escape AWD 1.5-liter gas mileage reviewSmaller engines with turbochargers have spread throughout new vehicles as a way to meet the increasingly stringent fuel-efficiency rules that started in 2012. But no maker has been as forward about marketing that technology as Ford, which now offers a range of downsized and boosted engines under...
John Voelcker -
Emissions rules could cost 1 million jobs, Ford CEO tells Trump: what's behind that number? (further updated)Among his actions during a whirlwind first week in office, U.S. President Donald Trump met last week with the CEOs of U.S. automakers Fiat Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. He met on two consecutive days with Mark Fields, CEO of Ford, in fact. Fields was part of a group of manufacturing...
John Voelcker -
Electric Ford Transit van conversion shown by Inventev at Detroit Auto ShowWhen an automaker doesn't offer a vehicle for a specific market segment, sometimes the aftermarket will fill in the gap. In the U.S., all-electric commercial vans are one of those gaps. Such vehicles are available in other markets, but so far, not on sale from major makers in North America. DON'T...
Stephen Edelstein -
Ford to test plug-in hybrid Transit Custom van in LondonEarlier this month, Ford announced a host of new electrified vehicles, including prototype and production hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric models. Before its planned 2019 production launch, one of those vehicles will soon begin testing in London. It's a plug-in hybrid version of the...
Stephen Edelstein