Ford Motor Co. may be the second-largest seller of electric vehicles in the U.S., but that doesn't mean the road for its business plan is a smooth one.
On April 4, the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker said it will delay a new electric pickup and three-row electric SUVs as demand has failed to ramp up as quickly as the industry hoped.
That also means setting the start of production for its massive Blue Oval City EV manufacturing complex in Tennessee for 2026, a year later than initially planned. It will, instead, put an emphasis on offering more hybrid engines — with both traditional fuel-powered and electric motors — during the expected transition to EVs.
A memo for workers at an Ontario plant that is to make the EVs said the delay "allows us to improve vehicle quality and benefit our customers by leveraging emerging battery and other technologies," our sister paper Automotive News writes.
That may be true.
What's also true is that EVs still aren't paying for themselves.
Ford says its Model e EV business will lose between $5 billion and $5.5 billion this year. It lost $4.7 billion in 2023.
And a recent report from Boston Consulting Group says automakers lose $6,000 for every $50,000 EV they sell. The question, BCG says, is how long OEMs and suppliers can take those fiscal risks while preparing for future growth.