Ford Confirms It Will Challenge Tesla With Long-Range Electric Vehicle

Just a few days prior to a Ford Motor Company executive stating it would not develop a 200-mile electric vehicle (EV) to compete with the likes of Tesla’s Model 3 and the Chevrolet Bolt, Ford CEO Mark Fields confirmed the American carmaker would indeed be developing a long-range EV to ensure it will be “among the best of the leaders” in this segment.

Fields, who made the comments during Ford’s first-quarter earnings conference call, provided limited details into exactly what the company would be doing as executives are usually reluctant to provide information on future vehicles altogether, let alone during an earnings conference call. However Fields did say that looking at the competitors in the EV segment and what they’ve announced is “clearly... something that we are developing for” and “we want to make sure that we are either among the leaders or in a leadership position in the product segments that we are in.”

Ford CEO Mark Fields stands beside the 2017 plug-in hybrid vehicle Ford Fusion. Source: Ford Fields points to its Ford Focus electric car that has a range of about 100 miles, and last year Ford announced that it plans to invest some $4.5 billion into its electric vehicle lineup. “By the time we end the decade, we will have 40% of our nameplates around the world that will be electrified,” Fields says. He adds these vehicles will be competitive in terms of cost, quality and range in order to move Ford’s business forward.

Tesla’s Model 3, which has garnered more than 400,000 pre-orders from drivers, is slated to be a 200- mile EV that will start at a price of $35,000. However the vehicle is not scheduled for launch until late 2017. The Chevrolet Bolt, which is slated to debut in the fall of 2016, will start at a price point of $37,500 and will be able to travel 200 miles between rechargings. Other vehicles inching into the 200-mile range category include a new vehicle from Hyundai, Nissan, BMW and a host of other EV startups.

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