With Ford's ambitious plans for the EV market, the vice president of sustainability, Bob Holycross, believes that EVs will revive the near 120-year-old automaker.
The American automaker is amid a complete brand overhaul, and its strategy to convert models people recognize the most into electric is paying off so far.
Ford first converted its legendary performance car to electric with the Mustang Mach-e. The Mach-e is Ford’s best-selling EV, with 25,765 sales in 2022. In August, Mach-e sales reached 3,120, 115% more than August 2021.
In April, Ford launched the Ford F-150 Lightning, introducing the first EV truck to its lineup. The F-series is Ford’s trademark, their best-selling truck brand, and the Lightning lives up to it in every aspect.
Ford F-150 Lightning sales are climbing with 6,842 since its release; the automaker has already delivered its EV truck to a customer in all 50 states. In addition, August was the EV truck’s best month so far, selling 2,373.
Ford says it would sell more electric vehicles if it could keep up with demand, but they are selling out as fast as they can make them. Ford recognizes this and plans to scale production over the next few years to hit 2 million global EV capacity by 2026, but there are a few hurdles it will need to clear before hitting its target. For one thing, Ford will need to ensure it has enough supply of critical EV battery materials to get there. Ford has already locked up about 70% of the resources required to hit its 2 million goals.
Recent partnerships with battery developers like SK innovation and CATL are examples of Ford’s sense of urgency to produce more electric vehicles. Why is Ford moving so fast towards electric vehicles? Because Ford sees EVs as the future and believes they can revive the company.