Ford Loses $1.3 Billion on Electric Vehicles in First Quarter of 2024, Delays Plans to Make More

[hawkman]

Ford Loses $1.3 Billion on Electric Vehicles in First Quarter of 2024, Delays Plans to Make More

Ford announced earlier this month that the company will delay producing two new electric models, opting for hybrid vehicles instead.

“Many companies rushed in too fast with E.V.s that were too expensive and there was not as much of a market for them as they thought,” Sam Abuelsamid, transportation and mobility analyst at research firm Guidehouse Insights, told the New York Times. “That’s made it a lot tougher to sell those vehicles.”

 

[Uncle J]

Ford still makes cars? I thought they quit making cars and decided to just make trucks and SUV's.

And to be honest, every Ford I've ever owned was a piece of crap.

Bigger picture wise, US consumers bought a record 1.2 million EV cars last year, so the demand is there, it's just a question of how big it is and which brands consumers are choosing. My next car might be an EV or plug-in hybrid, but there's no way in Hades I'd ever buy a Ford.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Ford Loses $1.3 Billion on Electric Vehicles in First Quarter of 2024, Delays Plans to Make More

Ford announced earlier this month that the company will delay producing two new electric models, opting for hybrid vehicles instead.

“Many companies rushed in too fast with E.V.s that were too expensive and there was not as much of a market for them as they thought,” Sam Abuelsamid, transportation and mobility analyst at research firm Guidehouse Insights, told the New York Times. “That’s made it a lot tougher to sell those vehicles.”

Electric cars make no sense, unless you are rich.

 

[Uncle J]

Electric cars make no sense, unless you are rich.

Actually they do, depending on where you live and how you use them. If you live in a place with relatively affordable electricity and mostly use your car for short trips, you will save money.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Actually they do, depending on where you live and how you use them. If you live in a place with relatively affordable electricity and mostly use your car for short trips, you will save money.

Sure, in the long run you will save money on gasoline, but anyone living in an apartment can't have one, as there are no charging facilities.
So the first requirement for having an EV is to own a home.

 

[hawkman]

Ford still makes cars?

Ford calls the Mach E a SUV but it looks like a car to me .You can still get a pony car from Ford , but yeah that is it .

My next car might be an EV or plug-in hybrid, but there's no way in Hades I'd ever buy a Ford.

Rebates still offered on EV and plug-in hybrids , am I right ?

And to be honest, every Ford I've ever owned was a piece of crap.

Never owned a new Ford and if the former owners of the used ones I did own did not follow factory service guidelines It caused more problems for me .
Owned a 1991 Ford Escort bought it with a little over a 100k already on the odometer and put another 200k on it , great car it was .

Uncle J , what have owned that was a good car ?

 

[hawkman]

Electric cars make no sense, unless you are rich.

In limited situations I think you can make it work owning an electric .

 

[Uncle J]

Sure, in the long run you will save money on gasoline, but anyone living in an apartment can't have one, as there are no charging facilities.
So the first requirement for having an EV is to own a home.

Again, it depends on where you live. Where I live there are quite a few charging facilities, with more coming online each year.

 

[Hopeful 2]

In limited situations I think you can make it work owning an electric .

I agree, but it is not in the realm of possibility for most.

 

[Hopeful 2]

Again, it depends on where you live. Where I live there are quite a few charging facilities, with more coming online each year.

How are the facilities powered ?
Coal and natural gas ?

 

[Uncle J]

Ford calls the Mach E a SUV but it looks like a car to me .You can still get a pony car from Ford , but yeah that is it .

Yup, just the Mustang. I haven't looked, but some of the supercar manufacturers have used electric motors to boost the power and fill in the gaps on their cars (Ferrari, McClaren, Porsche). I wonder if Ford has done that with the Mustang?

Rebates still offered on EV and plug-in hybrids , am I right ?

Yep.

https://www.cars.com/articles/which-electric-cars-are-still-eligible-for-the-7500-federal-tax-credit-429824/

Never owned a new Ford and if the former owners of the used ones I did own did not follow factory service guidelines It caused more problems for me .
Owned a 1991 Ford Escort bought it with a little over a 100k already on the odometer and put another 200k on it , great car it was .

I do all my own care work and I'm pretty picky about regular maintenance. Didn't seem to make a difference with the Ford's I've owned.

Uncle J , what have owned that was a good car ?

We've had two good Nissans and a really good Volkswagen.

 

[Uncle J]

How are the facilities powered ?
Coal and natural gas ?

Again, it depends on where you live. Where I live it's effectively all hydro and wind.

 

[miamited]

Yeah, hawkman

It looks like a lot of EV troubles are causing a fall in popularity. I think the cold weather issues brought on by last years northern cold made a hit. It also looks like charger access when needed is still pretty limited for long distance driving.

I'm ok with the hybrid technology. I'm not sure that I understand all of the hue and cry from environmentalists. I mean, I get that we don't want to over pollute, but I'm fairly confident that our planet can take a fair amount of human waste products and deal with it. I can't remember when the last time was that I read of dangerous smog conditions in LA. I'm ok with just let's be more careful and do the best we can to limit air pollutants, but they've been around for an awfully long time. I mean, man's been cooking with fire for many, many centuries and we've been smelting metal with hot fire since at least the first generations of Adam's clan.

God bless,
Ted

 

[Hopeful 2]

I wonder what will happen to all the waste batteries !

 

[hawkman]

I haven't looked, but some of the supercar manufacturers have used electric motors to boost the power and fill in the gaps on their cars (Ferrari, McClaren, Porsche).

GM added an electric boost on the Corvette .

I wonder if Ford has done that with the Mustang?

I think putting Mustang name plate on the Mach E is marketing at work . The ICE Mustang is still all ICE so far .

I do all my own care work and I'm pretty picky about regular maintenance. Didn't seem to make a difference with the Ford's I've owned.

I have seen that happen , multiple failure of different components no matter what you do .

We've had two good Nissans and a really good Volkswagen.

Our main car is a Nissan Altima . Bent a strut in pot hole has been the only bad thing so far and can't blame the car for my inability to dodge a pot hole at 70 mph .
Never owned a VW .

 

[hawkman]

I'm ok with the hybrid technology.

Your Lincoln still purring along ? I bet that is a nice ride .

 

[Uncle J]

It looks like a lot of EV troubles are causing a fall in popularity.

I showed earlier that US consumers bought a record number of EVs last year.

I think the cold weather issues brought on by last years northern cold made a hit.

Nah. The place I live has 5-6 months of winter and none of the EV owners have ever had problems. About all they say is that it takes a bit longer to reach full charge.

It also looks like charger access when needed is still pretty limited for long distance driving.

Yep, that's true.

I'm fairly confident that our planet can take a fair amount of human waste products and deal with it.

Huh? I don't even know what "deal with it" means. Would it be ok if I started a tire-burning and coal waste repository right next to you, and just told you that you could "deal with it"?

I can't remember when the last time was that I read of dangerous smog conditions in LA. I'm ok with just let's be more careful and do the best we can to limit air pollutants, but they've been around for an awfully long time. I mean, man's been cooking with fire for many, many centuries and we've been smelting metal with hot fire since at least the first generations of Adam's clan.

It's about taking measures to counter human-caused climate change.

 

[Uncle J]

I wonder what will happen to all the waste batteries !

They're broken down and basically recycled.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a44022888/electric-car-battery-recycling/

 

[Hopeful 2]

They're broken down and basically recycled.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a44022888/electric-car-battery-recycling/

Thanks for the article...very interesting.

 

[Uncle J]

GM added an electric boost on the Corvette .

Cool! I've seen the stats on the hybrid supercars and they're just insane. Of course I'll never get near one, but maybe one day I'll get to try out one of those Vettes.

I think putting Mustang name plate on the Mach E is marketing at work . The ICE Mustang is still all ICE so far .

Ah, thanks.

I have seen that happen , multiple failure of different components no matter what you do .

Yep, it's been one thing going bad after another, and each time I either check online to see how to fix it or when I have to take it to a shop I hear the same thing...."this is a common defect in Fords". Given the number of times I've seen/heard that, I could only conclude that Fords just aren't very good.

Our main car is a Nissan Altima . Bent a strut in pot hole has been the only bad thing so far and can't blame the car for my inability to dodge a pot hole at 70 mph .

LOL....user error.

I'm still kicking myself for getting rid of the Xterra we had a few years ago. It had 180k on it and only had a timing belt break. But I didn't keep it because insurance considered it an off-road vehicle, which meant it would've been double the rate for my (then) teenagers to drive. I wish I had it now.

Never owned a VW .

This is our first and we really, really like it. You know how you can just tell a car is well-built by how it feels? That's what we got when we tried the VW.

A fellow "car guy" I used to work with told me once how he was strictly a Porsche guy, but his wife started buying VW's and he liked them so much he ended up ditching his Porsche loyalty and started buying VWs. Saved himself a lot of money!