The biggest differentiating aspect of Ford will be selling software services, autonomous features and driver assistance that could be rented for a particular time slot
Recently, at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, car making giant Ford’s CEO Jim Farley highlighted how the international automobile sector is moving towards a price scuffle as the price of electric vehicles are going down and several manufacturers are selling EVs at a price around $25,000. At the conference, the CEO stated that EVs that appear at a price around $25,000 will be democratized. Basically, the materials that are used in making EVs will be priced around $18,000.
Farley also added that the price of the materials are much higher to manufacture an EV than the one powered by a petrol or diesel engine. Ford's Mustang Mach-E electric SUV starts at a price of $44,000, which can be priced much higher. Compared to the Ford Edge gas SUV, the Mustang EV costs about $25,000 more.The charger of the vehicle carries a price tag of $3000, while the battery is priced at $18,000, but the new batteries appearing the market are priced much lesser that are furnished with scanty metals such as cobalt and nickel. The benefit is that EVs are manufactured with fewer labor and take less time, which ultimately does cost saving.
According to an exclusive report of Associated Press, this US based global car making firm intends to wipe out distribution costs that are about $2000 per vehicle more than Tesla. The Ford CEO believes that it can be done by reducing advertising costs and by reducing the price of keeping a large supply on dealer lots. Same as Tesla, Ford is not expected to purchase adverts to sell its electric cars, which is now priced at $500 to $600 per vehicle.
As per the report, Ford is designing the next generation of EVs for radical simplification of the labor it takes to put them together, Farley said. Farley also added that the upcoming Ford Evs will be crafted for optimal aerodynamics so that a small battery can be placed for more mileage. Now, if a large electric pick-up truck can be redesigned for lower wind resistance then it can provide an additional range of upto 120Kms from the size of battery. Most importantly, the added range reduces another $3000 from the battery cost.
“The re-engineering for the vehicle to minimize the size of the battery, since it’s so expensive, is going to be a game-changer for these second-generation products,” added Farley.
