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SEARCHThe automaker says its California skunk works is already finding efficiencies to lighten traditionally heavy electric vehicles for lower cost, plus extended range.
Ford
Ford says it’s working to lighten its electric vehicles without sacrificing power, akin to what the turbocharger did for gas models.
The automaker shared the peek into its developing universal EV platform taking shape at Ford’s Southern California-based skunk works.
Ford announced the effort last August, saying it was transforming its EV assembly line process for greater efficiency and smaller plants, along with more affordable models.
One of the company’s main areas of focus has been the EV battery, which it said can comprise up to 40% of its cost and more than a quarter of its weight. At the same time, U.S. consumers say they want more range between charges, presenting a challenge for automakers.
Ford said its researchers have been attacking the problem from a different angle.
“Our big bet for electric vehicles? Obsessing over the vehicle as a system to get more miles out of a smaller battery and radically simplifying the system to reduce the number of parts so we can deliver a new family of affordable electric vehicles to driveways around the world,” the automaker said.
Ford’s first product to be made on what it’s calling the Universal EV Platform, a midsize pickup truck, is scheduled to debut next year.
The approach to finding cost efficiencies has already shaved 22 pounds off the platform’s first-generation vehicle by cutting its wire harness by 4,000 feet, Ford said.
“Other companies will claim that they've tried much of this before. But physics isn’t proprietary. We're creating a truly integrated electric vehicle platform, not a single part that can be easily copied,” ,” Ford said.
“If we succeed, we will have a family of vehicles that we expect to compete on price with the best in the world, including gas vehicles.”
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