The Ford F-150 Lightning’s bidirectional charging feature is proving to be a surprise hit with buyers, and Hyundai/Kia has added bidirectional capability to its new models. The latest automaker to go bi is Renault, which has announced that the upcoming R5 will be its first car to come with a bidirectional on-board charger. Mobilize, the… Read more »
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CEO Jim Farley explains how Ford is learning from Tesla, marketing EVs as “digital products”
Ford CEO Jim Farley is no stranger to EVs—before he joined Ford, he worked at Toyota, and was deeply involved in bringing the Prius to the US market. In a wide-ranging recent interview with Fully Charged’s Robert Llewellyn, Farley talks about how he is shepherding his company through the process of electrification. Farley understands that… Read more »
Is the Ford/Tesla charging agreement as big a deal as everyone thinks?
Unless you’ve just emerged from an internet-free retreat, you’ve surely heard that Tesla and Ford are planning to cooperate to open up the former’s Supercharger network to drivers of the latter’s EVs. The announcement quickly took over every EV-related news feed. Is this deal really as “surprising,” “unprecedented” and “game-changing” as people are saying? Yes… Read more »
Grabbing the prime real estate for electric truck charging hubs
Q&A with Zeem Solutions CEO Paul Gioupis. Charging-as-a-service is a hot business proposition these days, and for good reason. Electrifying a vehicle fleet is a complex undertaking that requires specialized skills and resources that most companies don’t have. It makes sense for organizations to focus on their core activities, so just as they outsource things… Read more »
Ford to build new T3 electric truck at BlueOval City in Tennessee
Construction is on track at Ford’s new BlueOval City campus in West Tennessee, where EV production is to begin in 2025. It sounds like quite a place—Ford and battery partner SK On plan to invest $5.6 billion and create 6,000 new jobs at the 3,600-acre campus, which will include a vehicle assembly plant, a battery… Read more »
WRI says converting school buses to electric drive can save money and reduce emissions
EV conversions are not generally thought of as a way to save money—in the passenger vehicle segment, they tend to be the province of affluent car-lovers. However, a recent report from the World Resources Institute tells us that repowering existing school buses with electric drivetrains could be a lower-cost and greener option compared to buying… Read more »
Cable problems crop up as non-Tesla EVs begin charging at US Supercharger sites
Tesla has started to open some Supercharger stations to non-Tesla EV drivers in the US. EV boosters and influencers have been converging on the half-dozen or so “open” stations in the state of New York to test out the system and share some of the good and bad points. In a recent video, Marques Brownlee… Read more »
RAM 1500 REV electric pickup truck: concept meets reality
Despite a showy concept, Ram’s EV pickup doesn’t look that different than its gasoline versions. Is following Ford’s lead the right move? It was clear that the striking Ram 1500 REVolution Concept, unveiled at January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, foreshadowed a production electric Ram 1500 within the next couple of years. Ram… Read more »
Ford to build new LFP battery plant in Michigan
Ford plans to invest $3.5 billion to build an LFP battery plant in Marshall, Michigan. BlueOval Battery Park Michigan will initially employ 2,500 people when production begins in 2026. The automaker will offer LFP (lithium iron phosphate) as a second battery chemistry option in addition to NCM (nickel cobalt manganese), allowing customers to choose an… Read more »
EV price war! Ford responds to Tesla price cuts, boosts production of Mustang Mach-E
The greatest barrier to EV adoption is the steep price premium relative to legacy vehicles—and for the past couple of years, prices have been moving in the wrong direction, thanks to supply-chain constraints and general post-COVID inflation. When Tesla recently announced price cuts of up to 20 percent, the boo-birds crowed about softening demand, but… Read more »