After Ford declined the government bailout, it was a little unclear as to what direction they were planning to head in. This article made it more clear and it confirmed that Ford will be manufacturing electric cars.
There is however a lack of information on Ford's new car. Both Tesla and General Motors have already done significant work in creating and starting to put their cars on the market. Because Ford is still in an early developing stage, they haven't entirely committed towards the production of the car. From what I know so far, Chrysler has made very little progress towards electric cars.
The article mentions that Bill Ford originally planned to make more fuel-efficient cars and possibly electric cars. It is not completely clear why he abandoned his goals, but it is possible that he was pressured by others in leadership positions at Ford to manufacture less fuel-efficient vehicles, such as SUVs and trucks, because they thought they were more profitable.
The Ford Fusion is expected to be one of the most fuel efficient hybrid on the market in 2011. I think that they will competitive with the Toyota Prius as the two cars with the highest miles per gallon.
While the Fusion will have great mileage, I believe that it will not even be competitive with the Chevrolet Volt or Tesla Roadster. Both of those cars are plug-in electric which means that they will not initially use any gasoline. I would expect that the Fusion will be the cheapest of the three, however, the amount paid for gas will eventually accumulate. While fuel efficient cars are a good short-term goal, they still attribute to global warming; plug-in electric cars are optimal.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Ford Promises an Electric Future (7)
This article was at http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/fords-electric-future/?emc=eta1.
When Bill Ford became the CEO of Ford a decade ago, he promised fuel economy improvements and other green efforts, but he later had to back away from them. He eventually decided to pass the chief executive job, hiring Alan Mulally to run the company.
On Sunday, Ford announced an “expanded electric-vehicle strategy in line with the nation’s growing interest in them.”
Within the next three years, Ford is planning to release two electric-vehicle projects, along with its next generation of hybrid vehicles (including a plug-in hybrid).
The first project is a collaboration with Tanfield, a British electric automaker, to produce battery-electric versions of the Ford Transit and Transit Connect, commercial vehicles sold in Europe. The second is a small battery-electric passenger car made in conjunction with Magna International, a Canadian automotive supplier. The car, which is scheduled for production in 2011, will be powered by lithium-ion batteries and have a range of up to 100 miles on a single charge, Ford said.
Recently, the Ford Fusion Hybrid has been garnering praise, after Ford announced that the car’s E.P.A.-rated gas mileage would make it the most fuel efficient mid-size sedan on the market when it goes on sale early this year.
When Bill Ford became the CEO of Ford a decade ago, he promised fuel economy improvements and other green efforts, but he later had to back away from them. He eventually decided to pass the chief executive job, hiring Alan Mulally to run the company.
On Sunday, Ford announced an “expanded electric-vehicle strategy in line with the nation’s growing interest in them.”
Within the next three years, Ford is planning to release two electric-vehicle projects, along with its next generation of hybrid vehicles (including a plug-in hybrid).
The first project is a collaboration with Tanfield, a British electric automaker, to produce battery-electric versions of the Ford Transit and Transit Connect, commercial vehicles sold in Europe. The second is a small battery-electric passenger car made in conjunction with Magna International, a Canadian automotive supplier. The car, which is scheduled for production in 2011, will be powered by lithium-ion batteries and have a range of up to 100 miles on a single charge, Ford said.
Recently, the Ford Fusion Hybrid has been garnering praise, after Ford announced that the car’s E.P.A.-rated gas mileage would make it the most fuel efficient mid-size sedan on the market when it goes on sale early this year.
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