Ford and General Motors separately announced similar plans this week to reconfigure two of their American factories for EV production. The plants in question are the Flat Rock, Michigan facility that currently produces the Ford Mustang and Lincoln Continental and the Orion Township factory that makes the Chevrolet Sonic and all variants of the Chevrolet Bolt. Both announcements arrive at a time when the two American companies are under increased scrutiny for recent or pending downsizing, which has impacted workers in America and abroad.
Ford is one of several automakers that have talked a big game but produced little in regards to fully electric vehicles. To date, the Focus Electric Hatchback stands alone as their only fully baked EV so far, and that was clearly a compliance vehicle. Ford has been more successful with their regular and plug in hybrids, and later this year the 2020 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator hybrids will arrive at American dealerships. The next generation Ford Escape will also spawn at least one partial or fully electric variant, and Ford will introduce a regular hybrid and fully electric F-150 at some point in the future, but no concrete time table currently exists for any of those vehicles.
As for the announcement related to Flat Rock, Ford says they will spend around $850 million and create 900 jobs to build this new EV and retool the plant for the next generation Mustang. Given the expense associated with redesigning vehicles, $850 million between two models isn’t a lot of money, and it possibly signals Fords intent to keep the Mustang on its current platform for at least one more generation. Even if that is the case, the next Mustang will spawn a hybrid variant of some sort.
This latest development does not bode well for the Continental. Lincoln moved just under 9,000 of them last year, which is not a terribly great number. And while it’s good news that the factory is getting some new product, Ford has switched gears several times about the plant’s future, initially saying it would be a focal point for their autonomous vehicle research and production before changing their minds yet again.
Ford previously revealed their intention to build another unspecified electric SUV at its factory in Cuautitlan, Mexico. This came about after they originally said it would be produced at the Flat Rock plant. It would seem the only thing that is consistent about Ford’s EV plans is its inconsistency. Anyway, this plant currently builds the sixth generation Fiesta and will continue to do so until May 2019, at which point it is logical to assume that the plant will be retooled for the mystery EV, which means its introduction could be imminent.
The company also plans to retool its Hermosillo, Mexico plant to build the next generation Transit Connect van and wagon. The Focus-based van is currently built in Valencia, Spain. The upcoming Courier, a Focus-based compact pickup that Ford recently confirmed for the American market, is also slated to be built in Mexico, with a planned release date of no later than 2022. It would make sense for Ford to build both vehicles in the same plant, especially if they share the same underpinnings.
Imagine this Mondeo wagon with a raised suspension and a healthy dose of body cladding. That is in all likelihood what the next Fusion will look like.
There has been no news about the Fusion or its future as an Outback competitor. The Fusion and Lincoln MKZ are currently produced at the Hermosillo factory, so they’re potentially impacted by the inclusion of Transit related products. Although it is a plant capable of building at least 250,000 vehicles, so who knows.
As for General Motors, they intend to inject $300 million into the Orion plant that currently builds the Chevrolet Bolt and Sonic. Like Ford, they have also revealed their plans to build an additional EV that no one has seen yet. This new EV will utilize the Bolt platform. It would make a bit of sense for General Motors to build some type of Model 3 competitor off its bones, especially since they’ve cancelled the Cruze and will probably axe the Sonic to make way for this unknown product. But that is all wishful thinking on my part and the company will probably just create something that looks more like an actual crossover as opposed to the current Bolt, which is more of a raised hatchback than anything else. In any event, this cash infusion will create about 400 jobs.
The automaker is also spending over a billion additional dollars in six states to bolster their manufacturing capabilities. No further specifications as to what facilities or plants would get the funds were revealed.
As the auto industry continues to adapt to this brave new world of alternative energy vehicles and autonomous driving technology, demographic changes and consumer tastes have only complicated automakers plans to maintain any sort of rational product planning. Ford and General Motors have been a bit late to the game when it comes to developing fully electric vehicles, and these latest announcements are frustrating due to their vague references to future vehicles whose capabilities may or may not be competitive when they arrive in several years. To make matters worse, the diversion of resources away from slow selling internal combustion vehicles has resulted in a substantial loss of jobs for auto workers worldwide. Unfortunately, we should probably expect more of these types of announcements in the future.
Sources:
“GM will produce new EV in Michigan., add 400 jobs” by Michael Wayland, Automotive News
“Ford invests heavily to build EVs, next-gen Mustang at Flat Rock plant” Sven Gustafson, Autoblog
At this point, any electric vehicle that GM or Ford produces should be bodied as a (yech, retch) crossover. No, I don’t like them in the slightest. But the majority of the buying public does.
I suspect the popularity of “skateboard” battery placement in the floor of the more successful EVs (Tesla, Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf*) as opposed to other alternatives (Chevy Volt’s T-shaped pack, VW eGolf & Ford Focus Electric placement under rear seat & trunk) means we may end up seeing relatively conventional passenger car bodies plopped atop a thick chassis stuffed with batteries with fairly conventional ground clearance, as exemplified by the Polestar 2. This would combine a crossover’s elevated driving position with the superior aerodynamics (and therefore range) of a car body, and can probably be styled to look like a normal crossover like the Kia Niro. More floor-to-ceiling clearance would requires more frontal area if a skateboard battery is used, which is awful for aerodynamic drag and therefore range.
*The Leaf’s battery starts under its front seats but doesn’t go in the front seat footwell and thins out under the rear seat footwell. It isn’t as flat as the batteries in the Bolt, the BMW i3, or the Teslas. This design limits front seat travel and rear seat foot room, and prevents my tall self from getting comfortable in either row of seats. However, it allows a lower roof and therefore better aerodynamics and range.
I think you’re right.
It would also mean that an elevated driver’s seat and a low center of gravity could easily be combined in the same car, with the batteries being the heaviest part of the powertrain and stashed as low as possible.
Chevy Bolts seem to be selling pretty well here in Portland. But last I heard GM gets the entire Bolt drivetrain from LG in Korea. LG Chem is at least starting to make batteries in Michigan.
GM needs their own battery, motor and controller development and manufacturing. Not making their own EV drivetrain is robbing them of the experience necessary to scale up. Imagine if a major ICE carmaker didn’t build their own engines.
Likewise I wonder how much Ford will be outsourcing. Their Focus Electric drivetrain is from Magna of Canada, with batteries from LG Chem.
Tesla makes their own batteries, motors and power electronics.
Your mention of the Transit Connect reminded me that electric delivery vans should be a natural for their market. I see tons of RAM ProMasters around here making Amazon deliveries, which would be cheaper to run if they were EVs.
Everyone in the business disagrees with you, including Tesla, which has Panasonic build its cells.
Batteries are essentially a commodity. The existing automakers build very little of their own cars except engines, sometimes transmissions, and the raw body. Almost everything else comes from suppliers, who can make them more efficiently.
Having batteries be manufactured by suppliers will be the model going forward. It’s too capital intensive, and not worth it, if some new technology comes along. Look at Nissan: they started out building batteries for their Leaf, and then decided to sell the whole thing, and rely on suppliers.
Three or four global battery suppliers will end up supplying all the batteries for the whole industry, globally.
No consumer will ever be able to tell the basic propulsion characteristics from one EV to another. They’re essentially all going to be the same. Like washing machines and refrigerators. The only thing to set them apart will be the styling, interior appointments and most of all, the software. That’s the magic sauce, and that’s what manufacturers are investing in heavily: the software. The hardware will become utterly anonymous.
You know that Mercedes and BMW are planning to build future EVs on the very same platform? No one will ever know.
It’s not like IC engines at all. It’s just batteries and an electric motor.
Tesla and Panasonic are in a joint venture at the Gigafactory. Tesla owns the land and building, and leases part of the building to Panasonic, which owns some of the cell production equipment.
Panasonic exec VP Yoshihiko Yamada told Electrek in 2016, “I want to explain to you the relationship with Tesla and Panasonic. I used to be in charge of components five or six years ago. At that time our relationship with Tesla was one of supplier and customer. A conventional business relationship. But since we started discussion on the Gigafactory that’s completely changed. One example, is production capacity is now two or three times more. Why? Because Tesla and manufacturing people worked together. We are discussing these details. This type of relationship is quite new for business. We are not the simple buyer and supplier relationship.”
EV batteries are far from generic. They are the most expensive and fastest changing part of an EV. They determine range, durability and charge time, which are the main things EV buyers care about. The smartest EV companies will be deeply involved in battery manufacture, as Tesla is.
I was giving you the commonly held wisdom of the industry, as in VW and Mercedes and BMW are giving out huge contracts for batteries to the tune of tens of billions. They’re not developing or building their own.
Battery suppliers will find it in their competitive advantage to keep advancing the state of the art of their batteries.
True. And I’m putting forward Tesla’s disruptive advantage as a battery expert and technology driver.
It will be interesting to see how the make or buy question plays out as established manufacturers and suppliers ramp up to Tesla volumes and (maybe) beyond.
Car manufacturers who dont make their own engines, well in diesel not gasoline there are a few google who bought in PSA diesel engines to put in their cars the list may surprise you.
Good point about diesels, Bryce. If a powertrain is only in a small share of what you build, then you might as well get it elsewhere. That’s the case for electric powertrains these days for everyone but Tesla.
The big question is what share EVs will have in, say, 10 to 20 years. If (when) majority EV market share comes to pass, those with long experience and investment in building electric powertrains will have the advantage.
Big American public companies like GM and Ford have no objective beyond maximizing short-term “shareholder value”, so they’ll outsource as long as they can get away with it. Korea’s LG, for one example, appears to have longer term financial objectives. LG Chem and LG Electronics are taking strong positions as EV powertrain providers. Korea’s SK Group is another big EV battery player. By 2030-2040 they could end up with more power and profits in the auto industry than even GM.
LG’s already throwing their weight around. Story in Electrek:
In October 2018, Manager Magazin reported that Volkswagen is in negotiations with SK Innovation, a Korean battery cell manufacturer, to partner up on a gigafactory in Europe. The deal appeared to be similar to Tesla’s own Gigafactory 1 project with Panasonic. Now, the German magazine reports that the negotiations have fallen apart because LG Chem, one of the battery suppliers that VW is going to be dependent for upcoming EV production, apparently threatened to stop supplying them as a result.
“Your mention of the Transit Connect reminded me that electric delivery vans should be a natural for their market. ”
“Ford announces all-electric Transit…for Europe”
Told ya so.
I have been waiting for a 3 row crossover that is electric/plug in hybrid. The bolt was too small for our family of 5. Come on GM you have a buyer right here just keep it under $40k.
Good luck with that under $40k price. The Bolt already pushes close to that, and federal tax credits are phasing out for GM.
If I have the correct information a bace Chevrolet traverse is about $30k and the hybrid Chrysler Pacifica starts at $40k I can buy a lot of gas for $10k. So yes I’m never going to get it but its wichfull thinking.
The Pacifica Hybrid has a large enough battery to qualify for the full $7500 federal tax credit. Depending on where you live there may be a more local credit as well. Here in CO, I’d be eligible for both the $7500 federal as well as a $5000 state credit, thus taking that $40k base price down to $27500 even if I were to end up paying the dealer full price. At that point it’s below that base Traverse you mentioned and a Pacifica Hybrid is a FAR nicer place than a base Traverse.
I’m pretty loyal to GM. I was using the Pacifica mainly for reference. But thank you.
With its 100 mile range and batteries located in the trunk eating up storage space, I wouldn’t call the Focus EV “full baked”. The only fully baked EVs are ones designed from scratch as EVs, with batteries under the floor and with some 200 mile range or more. There’s a reason the Focus EV is a complete also-ran, and exists purely as a compliance-mobile.
Barely half-baked.
My guess is that GM’s Bolt based next car will be a proper CUV with a Buick badge, for two reasons: China, and a higher MSRP here in the US so that GM can maybe, possibly, hopefully, wishfully try to at least break even with it. They lose some $7.5 – $9k on each Bolt.
Here’s that Buick badge.
The irony of that badge on an electric car would be priceless. What’s old is new again in a way that no one would have once guessed.
And you know they’ll have to make a 225 mile range version and, well, you know…. 😉
Good one! LOL
If they resurrect the name, they’ll apply it to some goofy, anonymous-looking crossover rather than something with any real presence.
I honestly don’t think GM would be that clever.
Why are we still pretending that Ford and GM have the slightest clue of what they’re doing?
I read all this and look at the vehicles and I’m just bored to tears. I dont fit in this new automotive landscape. Could care less really.
Styling is fashion and it comes and goes. The actual technology underneath is what excites me. The typical car from the 1920’s had a four cylinder in-line four stroke spark ignited gasoline engine, and so does the typical car of today. It has all been evolutionary refinement. EV’s are a revolution that is finally happening.
I was never a cheerleader for Tesla. In fact I didn’t think Musk could pull it off. Now, Tesla’s are commonplace here in the Los Angeles area. Colder climates will be a challenge, and that is where Ford and GM should do some work, as they are based in Michigan and have traditionally catered to a US Midwest and Canadian customer base.