At the same time, the American manufacturer intends to temporarily postpone plans to produce a large three-row completely “green” crossover.
The American automaker officially entered the era of “greening” several years ago: the brand’s first stand-alone electric vehicle was the Ford Mustang Mach-E. The brand now has electric vehicles in a variety of segments, including the most popular full-size pickup truck segment in the States, and electric vehicles can also be found in the commercial sector. The company continues to develop “green” new products, but recently it had to adjust its plans.
Pictured: Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition
Bloomberg reports that Ford fears «increasing competition» from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers. In particular, we are talking about the possibility of a cheap “green” BYD Seagull hatchback entering the American market: its estimated price tag does not exceed 10 thousand dollars, while the starting price, for example, of a Ford Mustang Mach-E in the USA is slightly less than 40 thousand. dollars. By the way, last year the BYD brand overtook Tesla in China and took second place in EV sales in the global market.
Now Ford is thinking about developing another electric vehicle, and it is expected that this will be an entry-level model with a relatively low price tag. Of course, Americans will not be able to keep up with BYD, but it is expected that the cost of the starting version of the new Ford electric car will not exceed 25 thousand dollars. Presumably this project will become a priority, the new product may debut towards the end of 2026.
In the photo: electric crossover Ford Explorer (for European market)
According to the publication, the development of an inexpensive Ford electric car was entrusted to a team of less than a hundred employees working under the leadership of Alan Clark, who previously created the Tesla Model Y electric car, which is in demand in the United States. It is known that the group will focus on creating a platform that will use lithium-iron phosphate traction battery. It is expected that the cost of such batteries will be about a third less than the lithium-ion batteries currently used in most cases.
Note that at the beginning of this month it became known that against the backdrop of a price war in China, BYD Seagull has become even more affordable. For the basic version of the hatchback in China they are asking 69,800 yuan, which is equivalent to less than 909 thousand rubles at the current exchange rate. This five-door is equipped with a single 75-horsepower electric motor located on the front axle, its maximum torque is 135 Nm. Its battery has a capacity of 30.08 kWh, and the range without recharging is 305 km (based on the CLTC cycle used in China).
In the photo: BYD Seagull
As Kolesa.ru reported earlier, the starting version's equipment list includes: all-round disc brakes, front and window airbags, stabilization system, air conditioning, cruise control , a seven-inch virtual instrument display, a 10.1-inch diagonal multimedia touchscreen, an audio system with four speakers, parking sonars, and a rear view camera.
According to the agency, Ford has decided for the time being postpone plans to develop and release a large three-row all-green crossover in order to focus on a more affordable price segment.