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Ford CEO reassures investors of EV plans as it pours money into electric F-150, Mustang-inspired car

An electrical charging port sits on the bodywork of a Kuga Vignale hybrid automobile displayed during a Ford Motor Co. launch event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.Jasper Juinen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesWith the automaker's first long-range electric vehicle set to be unveiled later this year, Ford officials said Thursday they're on the right path as they “reconceptualize” the company's vehicle lineup as well as its future.
Ford is in the midst of one of the most dramatic transformations the company has faced since founder Henry Ford threw the switch to start the auto industry's first assembly line rolling more than 100 years ago. The automaker is largely abandoning passenger cars in favor of SUVs and crossover vehicles, pursuing the development of self-driving vehicles and exploring the transition from a classic automaker into a provider of mobility services.
The automaker laid out plans last year to spend $11 billion on the technology by 2022 — up from its original target of $4.5 billion by 2020 — to develop 40 new all-electric and hybrid models. The company has already announced two EVs it plans to introduce next year: a fully-electric F-150 pickup and a “Mustang-inspired” electric crossover vehicle.
VIDEO1:2901:29Ford is investing $500 million in electric truck maker RivianThe Bottom Line “When there's new technologies, it takes a while, and there's a tipping point,” CEO Jim Hackett told investors during the automaker's annual shareholder meeting Thursday. “When it happens, you want to be there.”
Investors need some reassurance. While the company's shares are up by more than 33% so far this year, they're still down by almost 8% over the last 12 months. Sales of its first-generation EVs, like the Ford Focus Electric, have been modest at best. Hackett assured investors that more buyers will plug in. Company data shows one in five younger buyers would consider buying an electric vehicle at some point.
That's not far out of line with a study released by AAA on Thursday that found that 16% of American motorists it surveyed are giving serious consideration to an electric car for their next vehicle. The AAA report also said 40 million Americans would consider a battery-electric vehicle, or BEV — especially as prices drop, range improves and it becomes easier and quicker to recharge batteries.
Ford is clearly not alone.
Two of Europe's most powerful automakers, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG, launched sales of their first battery-electric vehicles this week. VW said it took about 10,000 advance orders for the new ID.3 crossover during the first day, even though the vehicle won't actually reach showrooms until next year. VW AG CEO Herbert Diess last year said his company is committing about $10 billion through 2023 to electrification. He also upped the number of battery-electric vehicles VW expects to sell by 2029 from 15 million to 22 million.
Japan-based Toyota plans to bring more than 10 EVs to market in the next six years, aiming to sell about 5.5 million battery-electric vehicles by 2030. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance – which launched the world's first BEV, the Nissan Leaf, in 2010, is making a similar push.
Ford was an early proponent of electrification, rushing to market with a mix of conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids and first-generation battery-electric vehicles, like the Focus Electric. But a variety of factors, including limited range and high sticker prices, limited demand. The automaker briefly hesitated before stepping up its efforts. But since Hackett replaced former CEO Mark Fields in a boardroom coup two years ago this month, he has ordered major new commitments to Ford's electrification, autonomous driving and mobility services efforts — including a “Mustang-inspired” crossover vehicle that's generated all sorts of buzz.
VIDEO3:3103:31Here's why Ford is the only auto stock Cramer endorsesMad Money with Jim CramerThe scant details and cult-following of the Ford's iconic muscle car has helped fuel speculation of what the electric version will look like. “Spy photographers” stake out the routes and locations where Ford is known to test its products, hoping to catch a glimpse of even a heavily camouflaged version of the vehicle.
“There's a lot of intrigue around this product,” said Hackett, adding that, “we're going to be telling our community more about it, but it is going to be a great story about Ford.”
Hackett shed little new light on the car Thursday.
“What we've done is reconceptualized [vehicle design] with all of the extra space that you actually retrieve using battery-electrics into a very, very unique vehicle that takes advantage of some inspiration from our Mustang brand,” Hackett said.
Whether Ford's bet on electrification will pay off is far from certain, as its earlier sales serve to remind observers. Nonetheless, there is a growing belief among those in and around the auto industry that battery power is the way of the future.
Ford plans to bring out a mix of hybrids, plug-ins and BEVs, betting that the unique characteristics of each will resonate with different groups of consumers.
In the Snowbelt, for example, where there are fewer public chargers and cold weather reduces range, analysts like IHS Markit and the Boston Consulting Group see stronger demand for the plug-ins that can switch to gas power when their batteries are depleted.
Rivian EV SUV.Adam Jeffery | CNBCMany experts believe that BEVs will be the long-term solution, a strategy underpinning new competitors like Tesla and suburban Detroit-based Rivian. EV ownership is expected to spike by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency, with an expected 125 million Americans owning an all-electric vehicle by that year.
Rivian revealed a pair of all-electric models, the R1T pickup and R1S sport-utility vehicle, at the Los Angeles International Auto Show last November and hopes to launch production within the next year. Rivian has raised more than $1.2 billion in capital recently, first lining up $700 million from a consortium led by Amazon. Ford kicked in the other $500 million. Rivian agreed to a new battery-powered electric vehicle for Ford as part of the deal.
The tie-up with Rivian will help Ford produce at least one, and likely several, new BEVs, according to industry analysts. But it won't slow the battery-car development program Ford already had underway for vehicles like the all-electric SUV that has gone by the codename “Mach One.”
If handled properly, experts contend, electric vehicles offer a number of advantages, including reduced – albeit displaced – emissions, lower energy costs, reduced vehicle noise and even more roomy interiors. That's because there's no engine under the hood anymore, Ford and most other manufacturers migrating to a skateboard-like platform where batteries and motors are mounted under the load floor.

NH Research’s 9300 Battery Test and Battery Emulation Solutions Now Expandable to 2.4 MW

NH Research Enabling Electrification with Higher Power Modular Battery Test and Battery Emulation

IRVINE, CA, U.S.A., 3-May-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — NH Research Inc. (NHR), a leading provider of power electronics test solutions for the aerospace, automotive, defense and energy industries, announced that the popular 9300 high voltage battery test and battery emulation solution now covers more power ranges from 100kW up to 2.4MW.

The innovative 9300 platform, introduced in early 2017, addresses the higher voltage and higher power test requirements for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. The platform provides a modular 100kW building block with dual voltage ranges of 600V or 1,200V and current up to 333A. It can now parallel up to 24 building blocks to get 2.4MW of power and up to 8,000A of current.

NHR’s 9300 modular system has become a popular choice for EV battery pack testing, EV Powertrain testing, and DC Fast Charger testing where superior performance, safety, easy automation, and regenerative energy savings are important. The enhanced 9300 platform can be seen live at two key upcoming industry trade shows: The Battery Show Europe 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany from May 7th to 9th and at 2019 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference & Expo in Novi, MI June 19 to 21, 2019.

About NH Research
NH Research, Inc. (NHR) enables electrification by accelerating innovation, validation and functional testing of today’s technologies. Backed by over 50 years of experience in power conversion and power electronics test systems and instruments, our test solutions deliver the performance, simplicity, and safety that engineers and researchers in aerospace, defense, automotive and energy industries require. For more information visit www.nhresearch.com.

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Vacuum-maker Dyson releases patents for new electric vehicle line set to debut in 2021

James DysonLarry Busacca | WireImage | Getty ImagesDyson, a British manufacturer best known for vacuums, fans, air purifiers and hand dryers, could add electric vehicles to its product portfolio, the company confirmed this week, releasing images of new patents it has received.
“We've been researching motors, batteries, aerodynamics, vision systems and robotics for 22 years. Now the time is right to bring all our knowledge and experience together into one big project – an electric car,” founder and CEO Sir James Dyson said in a statement on the company's website.
The UK firm has been dropping hints of its interest in electric vehicles since mid-decade, last November revealing plans to set up an assembly line in Singapore, with Dyson indicating the project will cost around $2.7 billion to bring to market.
The patent images, among other things, show what looks like a three-row crossover-utility vehicle that follows the latest industry approach to electric vehicle design, with its battery pack and motors mounted below the floorboards. But while the patents “provide a glimpse” of what the company is working on, the Dyson founder wrote that they “don't reveal what our vehicle will really look like or give any specifics around what it will do.”
Launched in 1991, Dyson Ltd. today offers a broad array of products, mostly consumer household goods like the vacuums and fans that are widely advertised. But Dyson has done little to hide his interest in getting into the auto industry.
In 2015, he underscored his commitment with the purchase of Michigan-based Sakti3, a start-up that was developing a new type of battery known as solid state. Proponents contend the technology could offer significant advantages over the more familiar lithium-ion technology in widespread use today by boosting range and reducing charge times, particular pluses for electric vehicles, but also useful for the cordless appliances Dyson has been shifting towards.
Questions about the vehicle program cropped up last year when Dyson wrote off £46 million, or about $60 million, of its £58 million investment in the University of Michigan spin-off due to problems with the technology. But it subsequently announced new details that made it clear the automotive venture was moving forward. That included word that it would build an assembly plant in Singapore, which the company now says will be complete next year.
“Singapore has a comparatively high cost base, but also great technology expertise and focus,” CEO Jim Rowan told employees in a letter last November. “It is therefore the right place to make high quality technology loaded machines, and the right place to make our electric vehicle.”
The founder's latest e-mail revealed that the project is centered at the old RAF base at Hullavington Airport, 2.5 hours west of London and employees about 500 workers, though with testing set to accelerate next month, that job count is expected to grow.
“Our bespoke automotive development site at Hullavington, UK is a £200m investment in the Dyson electric car. It's 517 acres house restored hangars, with some of the most advanced Research, Design and Development (RDD) labs in the world,” the company says on its website.
Dyson said the patent filings reveal an “androgynous vehicle,” rather than a specific product under development. But he did offer a few hints at what is coming.
“Signiﬁcantly, many of our competitors base their electric vehicles on existing formats and adapt them for electric propulsion systems,” Dyson wrote in an email to employees. “Such an approach is cost eﬀective, however, it tends to miss opportunities for mass-reduction and aerodynamic improvements which would improve the energy eﬃciency of the vehicle. Another approach has been to focus on smaller vehicles, as this generally keeps the mass of the vehicle low which can extend driving range. However, the size and ride comfort of such vehicles tends to limit their attractiveness and utility.”
Referencing the patent renderings, Dyson did note that the basic shape, a bit lower than today's typical SUV and CUV, would reduce aerodynamic drag while “the long wheel base could be employed, increasing the driving range and enabling a larger cabin capacity.”
Based on comments James Dyson has made over the last year and reports in various news outlets, the expectation is that three vehicles are in various stages of development, company officials indicating production should launch by 2021. They have offered no details on pricing nor where they plan to launch the product line, though Dyson is expected to set up its own dealer network.
The outspoken company founder has, meanwhile, taken a publicly proactive position in support of a proposal now being studied by Britain's government that would eliminate the sale of all new gas and diesel vehicles. The original concept set a target date of 2040 but British regulators have begun considering the option of pushing that up to 2035. Dyson, for his part, would like the ban to go into effect in 2030.
Similar measures are under study in a number of countries, including China, India, Germany and France. In Norway, where electric vehicles currently account for more than half of the new car market, a ban has already been approved.
Such a move would improve the odds that start-ups like Dyson could carve out a market niche, though traditional automakers like Daimler AG, General Motors and Volkswagen, are intent on reclaiming market dominance. That said, the arrival of upstart Tesla has shown the potential for new entrants, of which plenty more are looking to launch, such as Rivian and Faraday Future. There is also Apple, the technology giant working on its own vehicle program, though it has sent a number of conflicting signals about what it is developing in recent years.

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Maserati joins ranks of EV holdouts among exotic automakers

Teaser for Maserati Alfieri sports car
Although it announced the end of using Ferrari engines in its cars last week, Italian luxury-carmaker Maserati won't be going all-electric any time soon.

“This is a brand that needs combustion engines,” Maserati's North American chief, Al Gardner, told Motor Trend in an interview earlier this month. “It needs that raw emotion,” he said.

As if electric cars can't deliver raw emotion. Just ask any Tesla Model S P100D or original Roadster owner.

And Tesla's electric cars have been running over the rest of the luxury passenger-car sector in sales, to become the top selling car in both the luxury sedan and premium sedan markets.

READ THIS: Jeep Grand Commander EV leads FCA electrification push

Gardner is adding Maserati's voice to a chorus of classic sports-car makers saying electric is not for them. Although Porsche's parent, the VW Group is going all-in on electric cars and has said that it will transition to an all-electric automaker and is currently developing its last combustion engine, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said last November that the 911 would never become an EV. (Although two hybrid variants of the 911 are reportedly under development.)

And Gardner made his statement in the face of Fiat Chrysler's business plan announced last June, showing that Maserati planned to launch eight new plug-in hybrids and four new battery electric vehicles by 2022, and that those vehicles would cover 68 percent of the company's lineup.

Maserati 2022 roadmap

At least some of the electric models would use 800-volt battery architecture for the fastest possible charging—up to 350 kilowatts, or an 80 percent, or bulk, charge in less than 10 minutes.

The company at the time said that the electric models would use three motors to provide torque-vectoring control, and have 50 percent more power than today's models.

Those plans aren't necessarily off the table, but according to Gardner, it won't be enough for the brand.

Just as Tesla wanted to stand out from the mass of internal-combustion cars when the company launched the Model S, Maserati and others are counting on the individualized character of internal combustion engines to stand out from the nearly silent crowd in the mainly-electric future.

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