Comparing Ford And GM’s Electrification Strategy: Which Automaker Means Business?
36
Sponsored Links
Nearly every major automaker has concluded the future is electric. That includes General Motors and cross-town rival Ford.
Ford Authority broke down what we know about Ford’s future electrification plans, and we decided to compare the intel with what GM Authority knows will be coming from GM itself.
Foremost, the basics. GM has said it will bring 20 new battery-electric cars to market by 2023. Battery-electric also means purely electric. The word “electrified” is not the same—the word can apply to mild hybrids, hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
On the hybrid front, Ford has confirmed the Mustang, F-150, and two police pursuit vehicles will gain hybrid options. Off the bat, the strategy is a contrast from GM, which has leaned on the side of all-electric announcements. GM hasn’t dished out many details on future gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.
The same can be said for plug-in hybrids. Ford will more than likely apply such a system to the Escape, Explorer, Transit, and even the Bronco. Again, GM hasn’t said much in the way of new plug-in vehicles. Right now, the 2018 Chevrolet Volt and Cadillac CT6 PHEV remain its two plug-in offerings.
Where GM has a lead is in battery-electric vehicles. The 20 new electric cars have been detailed vaguely, but they each fit a certain segment, according to an electric-car flowchart released last year. Ford also has a slew of EVs coming, 16 of them to be exact, by 2022. If we’re simply weighing numbers, GM has Ford outgunned on future product.
One of GM’s electric cars could be a performance-oriented Chevrolet electric crossover, per the brand’s dealer meeting this year. Such a car may do battle with Ford’s own battery-electric performance vehicle, which was once to be named “Mach 1.”
In the here and now, GM has Ford cornered. Ford has yet to introduce a Volt-rivaling plug-in hybrid, and Chevrolet continues to promote the 2018 Bolt EV, which provides an EPA-estimated 238 miles of range. Though Ford could one-up the Bolt EV in the future with a rumored “Model E,” GM is taking the Bolt EV knowledge and applying it to future electric cars.
- Sweepstakes Of The Month: Win a Corvette Z06 and 2024 Silverado. Details here.
Sponsored Links
To answer this you need to look below the surface here.
GM took major steps to improve cost controls and to improve profitability post bail out. Much of the money they have saved was put back into the company in the way of new facilities and new technologies.
Ford on the other hand poured a lot of money into the Aluminum trucks that so far have not increased sales by much and only added more cost as aluminum prices increased. It was a bold move that did not pay off.
Ford did little to cut cost on their other models and where they did it actually hurt them like putting a Lincoln on a Taurus platform.
Just looking at that Fords investments into the new technologies are nearly 10 years behind GM at this point. They can catch up but they really need the cash from the CUV SUV strategy to pull it off while cutting cost.
Mary and Dan have really done a good job financially so they can invest in product. That is key as the technology is changing fast in many areas not just EV but composites and features.
The stock price says it all as Ford is only 1/3 the price of GM and with the cutting of the car lines they had better guess right or they may be in even deeper trouble.
Hybrids are not the path to the future full electrics are. People who what this kind of tech are all in not part way. This is why the Volt is fading as it is old news.
The one division, if it was still around which would perhaps be doing fairly well is if GM had Saturn specificallyfor the EV’s.
here in Ohio is still seems I don’t see many Volts and barely any Bolts. I honestly feel that there are many consumers that avoid the Chevrolet badge when it comes to the Electric vehicles (I may be wrong)
Saturn had the EV-1, which I barely remember as I was younger and it was mainly in CA.
Scott3, how do you feel Saturn would fair if it was still around? I know the vehicles towards the end were not like the original ones. Also what caused it to eventually be discontinued besides the sinking profits- I’m curious about the decision making in GM with Saturn as you seem to have some insight on these types of thing.
thanks- Gino.
Gino
I for one think Saturn should never have existed. I think GM would have been better off using the money to create Saturn to make their existing products better. It is my understanding the EV-1 was not a specific GM branded vehicle. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe it was a GM experimental vehicle not a Chevy , Buick, Pontiac or any given brand.
yeah I think you’re right the EV-1 was actually just a GM vehicle. ( I had watched videos and Documentaries about it).
it was serviced (and I think leased) at Saturn Dealerships.
The styling was also heavily Saturn-esque, more so than any other GM division.
whether it should have existed or not. I have nothing to that I know of to discuss either way.
but for any EV’s or hybrids, I think it would be the one GM division that GM would have no problem obtaining those type of consumers.
Chevrolet is a division at GM that may tend to symbolize trucks, SUV’s and even it’s performance cars, where Saturn had more of an image as green, good fuel mileage, and smaller cars (midsize & compact)
Yes, the EV1 had a “GM” mark badge on it and it was leased through Saturn dealers.
Saturn should never have been started and once the did start is they starved it because GZm just did not have enough money to support it.
Saturn was just another example of GMs disfunction.
At a time they should have been killing divisions they added one.
There is nothing Saturn could do that Chevy could not do just as well.
“Ford on the other hand poured a lot of money into the Aluminum trucks that so far have not increased sales by much and only added more cost as aluminum prices increased. It was a bold move that did not pay off.”
While exterior of the F150 is nearly all aluminum, there’s still extensive use of steel…Truck beds aside, GM uses lots aluminum in their vehicles…Truck-wise, the current gen Silverado has an aluminum hood, the MY19 Silverado will be gaining aluminum doors and tailgate…The Z06’s frame is all aluminum, two of GM’s most futurist vehicles you can buy today are the Bolt EV and the CT6 which both use lots of aluminum…Even if Ford is “suffering” today from their aluminum choices it could payoff in the long run if other automakers are forced to increased their use of aluminum to meet fuel economy standards…
With hybrids
*With hybrids, it’s mostly and either/or kind of thing between turbos or a hybrid…You’re usually either licensing the hybrid tech from Toyota, are Toyota or you’re turbo charging the overwhelming majority of the time…Rural highway patrols are the worst candidates for hybrids while traffic congested cities like LA/NYC are the best candidates for them but they do come with higher MSRPs and usually higher maintenance costs…With all that being said, many reports out there that the Prius is the most reliable vehicle including those used in Taxi fleets which includes their drivers beating on them…
The hybrid technology is based on Paice Hybrid technology, not Toyota.
http://www.paicehybrid.com/
From wiki: “The parties agree that, although certain Toyota vehicles have been found to be equivalent to a Paice patent, Toyota invented, designed and developed the Prius and Toyota’s hybrid technology independent of any inventions of Dr. Severinsky and Paice as part of Toyota’s long history of innovation”
Toyota has licensed their hybrid system out to Nissan, Mazda and Subaru…
“Hybrids are not the path to the future full electrics are. People who what this kind of tech are all in not part way. This is why the Volt is fading as it is old news.”
But there is the issue of sedans dying. I’m not convinced a cheaper Hybrid Bolt wouldn’t sell.
Very valid point because there are a variety of reasons the Volt is failing…It has a geeky stigma, for the MSRP, its a Chevy and not a Buick, its FWD, it has a T-Shaped battery that makes its a 4.5 seater, its a compact sedan when the best selling sedans are midsize, it can’t utilize DCFC, still doesn’t have a sunroof or powerseats…
The Volt is a Cruze and the Cruze offers a hatchback which allows you to move the rear seat back a tad for more leg room while still gaining more cargo room along with allowing you to breakup the TShape battery so it doesn’t invade the rear floor…GM did all this to the Volt/Cruze hatchback, slapped a Buick badge on it and called it the Velite 6…
stock price doesn’t say anything.
just because ford’s stock price is 1/3 gm’s, that doesn’t mean they are 1/3 as valuable.
their market cap is 44bn vs gm’s 52bn.
Actually the rise of GM has a lot to do with the present cutting of cost and future potential profits due to GM’s investment into future products and the markets reaction to potential growth and profits.
Fords decline is due to the lack of profits and the lack of future trust of investors in their product for the future.
in 2010, gm’s ipo price was about 33. today it is about 37. 10% increase in 8 years or so.
those aren’t the kind of numbers anyone should boast.
Wrong!
06/28/2016 27.93
05/12/18. 37.11
10 dollars in 2 years is really good
I have owned my 2017 Volt since 2016 and absolutely LOVE this car. Most of my daily driving is less than 50 miles per day. At least once per month I take extended trips with my Volt that require driving 500 miles plus in a day. If I had an all electric vehicle, I would have to pull over and wait for a charge every 200 to 300 miles. With my Volt, all I have to do is stop at a gas station, put in 8 gallons of gas and I’m back on the road in less than 5 minutes and can drive another 300+ miles. In future vehicles, I would really like to see extended electric capacity (200+ electric miles) and still retain the ability to use gas for extended trips.
I could never understand why GM didn’t expand the Volts system across more vehicles. All the reasons you started is a perfect example why this system should have been prepared across SUV’s, small vans and high end luxury vehicles. Not just the incredible beautiful but impractical and incredible expensive EXT.
GM knows that they cant get caught with zero car options if gas prices go three the roof again. Having electric cars takes care of this.
GM has a better idea of what needs to happen for the electric car future!
Ah the SUV MPG myth; Equinox diesel gets nearly 40mpg on the highway…
What am I going to do? My CUV and truck get better mpg than either of my V6 cars?
Utility myth!
When are we ever going to see the cars under those covers?
haha
I fail to understand why you guys are concerned with what ford is doing in comparison and who is better than who? There’s a big world out there with German , Japanese and Korean companies.
Take note, the offshore companies will always employ more people in there own countries than the do here. Crucial business de
None of this even matters until there is infrastructure to handle an expansion of the EV market. The automakers need to pull together and build charging stations as well as make a universal plug type just like every gas vehicle on the road has a universal filler. Until there is a way for consumers to drive long distances without worry, EV’s will reamin a fashion accessory. There will have to be a time when EV’s aren’t a commuter only proposition.
Every article about the Bolt has not been positive when it comes to finding a place to re-charge and the 238 mile range has been a misnomer. I have yet to read an article where the Bolt has been able to make it that distance without using creative and possibly unsafe means to get close. Then having a 30 minute to an hour wait, only to get a shot in the arm rather than a full recharge. That is of course once a charging station is located somewhere off the beaten path and another person isn’t using the charger. EV’s need the ability to be fully charged in 20 minutes or less.
This is where Tesla blew it. They built the infrastructure for themselves and went proprietary on the plug making it unusable to the rest of the EV market. Tesla could be funding their business off the other automakers utilizing the charging stations until the competition finally comes 15 years later.
Until the EV’s can be honest in all aspects competition to their gas powered counterparts, you won’t see a huge rush of new EV products hitting the streets. It’ll be more like a trickle charge.
Dear MRB, I’m averaging 4 miles/KW which comes out to 240 mile range with my Bolt. The Bolt is our only car. I use it to go into Las Vegas (150 mile round trip) about once a month. I just used it to go through Death Valley National Park on a single charge. And I used it to take a long over night trip to Lake Tahoe. It is not a fashion accessory for us. Nevada is building what they call their Electric Highway which will allow electric cars to travel anywhere in the Nevada in a 100+ mile per charge electric car by 2020, the end of Phase II. Phase I is almost complete. The Tonopah station will be completed by the end of spring, but with the Bolt we didn’t have to wait for the Tonopah station to be complete because we can and did go from Beatty to Hawthorne (197 miles) on a single charge with the Bolt. I do agree that in other parts of the country there is not the infrastructure to go on long trips in an electric car, for instance going from Chicago to Denver in a non-Tesla electric car is almost impossible due to the lack of DC fast chargers. But in Nevada it’s going to be great very soon. And if I need to go to Chicago or New York area, I’ll fly and then take public transportation. Regarding the charging plug, It’s pretty firm that the standard going forward is CCS/Combo charging standard, that is what the Bolt and the new Jaguar I-PACE, BMW, Ford, Kia, Hyundai, and Volkswagen all-electric cars use. Tesla has also joined the entity that sets the CCS standard called SAE. Search for the article titled “Tesla joins 150 kW CCS forces, CHAdeMO’s days are numbered in EV fast charging” on the website LongTailPipe dot com.
The lack of charging infrastructure and the long charge times are the biggest problems with owning an electric car as an only vehicle. It will take a relatively long time to fix that, at least 10 years, maybe more. Until then, a PHEV is the only option for an all-around do-everything electrified car. I wish it was different, but its not.
The reality is ICE is not going away.
But companies need to continue to invest in EV or the infrastructure will never come. Those who lead will set the standards and those who follow will just conform.
The first cars just need to take care of the daily commute as time goes on the rest will fall into place.
There is just no other way around the regulations with out a mix of technology.
A hybrid powertrain allows a powertrain engineer to have a lot of options. The first of which is an electrified transmission is vastly simpler than a multi speed (8-9-10!) gearbox with none of the headaches and debacles about shift quality. You have 100% torque available at 0 rpm, and no shifts to worry about. You also automatically have stop start technology built in that is worlds smoother and more responsive than the current crop of stop start non hybrid cars. You can reclaim energy under braking and decel which boosts your efficiency tremendously, and you can then model the engine to be more efficient as a generator without worrying about driveability.
If I’m a powertrain engineer I’m practically begging for a hybrid powertrain.
I agree with the author of this article, Ford is far behind GM in an all-electric car future. GM has already invested heavily in all-electric cars and produced a great product, the Chevy Bolt. I love my Chevy Bolt. They did everything right except the front seat comfort. I really don’t understand why they didn’t fix that in the 2018 or the 2019 model. It would seem like an inexpensive fix to me. All the seat needs is more cushion added, that is all I’m asking for. GM, is that too much to ask for? FYI – I did not need to purchase a faster charger than what came with the Bolt. The charger that came with the Bolt charges the Bolt 50 miles in 10 hours and since I almost never travel more than 50 miles in a day I have no use for a faster charger. But I’m glad I have the more mileage available when I need it which has happened several times and I’ll be using the Bolt’s great range and the DC faster charger soon on an over night vacation trip. GM learned much from designing and making the EV-1 and then the Volt and now they learned how to make the all-electric Bolt. As soon as GM comes out with the Buick Enspire (hopefully by the 2022) I’m trading my Bolt in for an Enspire, WOW, the Enspire is HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it will have a whopping 370 mile range, which breaks the 350 mile range barrier.
They’re called “GEAR”-heads for a reason; many would reject a FREE Enspire/EV if GM gave it to them…
There isn’t a “range barrier”, the Enspire could have range of 10,000 miles and they would still never buy one…
Dear God/Bacardi, You maybe right about those that love ICE cars. But there is a range barrier, as long as the DC fast charging infrastructure is not here yet and as long as electric cars can’t go as far as ICE cars on a full tank of gas, which is a minimum of 350 miles on the highway (Fiat 500c at 346.5 miles, Chevy Spark (ICE) at 342 miles, etc.). That is why I called it the 350 mile range barrier which is the minimum ICE cars can go on the highway. Most ICE cars can go 400+ miles on a single tank of gas on the highway, so 400 miles would be another barrier, which probably will not be achieved in a production car until 2025, because more advancement in battery technology must occur before that happens.
Let’s say there was a breakthrough and the Bolt EV got double the range or 476 miles for the same MSRP…While it would have a slight impact on increased Bolt EV sales, people won’t be tripping over themselves to get to the dealership…
While I understand some believe Tesla will go belly up and not get acquired, the majority of Tesla haters believe they’ll just find a way to cop out of offering a $35K Model 3 but will remain in business…The 200kWh Tesla Roadster 2.0 has a “goal” of 620 mile and comes out 2020 yet I’m sure it’ll be closer to 2022…Unlike the $35K Model 3, the Roadster has a high price tag and stands to make the company a lot of profit which ensures its produced…Musk even commented that they could make a 400 mile Model S but that they don’t see a market for it…
Most people do not have “range anxiety” which technically means you fear running out of range while driving…The EV anxiety is from charging stations: How do I find one? Is it safe? Will it work for my car? How fast is it? Is it a long wait? Is it operational? Do I need a membership to use it? Is there a bathroom nearby? How much does it cost compared to the next closest one? Tesla solved all this with superchargers yet congestion at peak times is still a problem, however with faster charging speeds a lot of those problems go away…
Dear God/Bacardi, I respectfully disagree with you regarding doubling the range of the Bolt, because I would be tripping over myself to buy one assuming it was the same price. You didn’t mention one of the most important advantages of longer range, which is it allows one to charge less often when taking a long trip which would also reduce congestion along with faster charging times at the charging station. However, there are physical and financial limits to how fast a battery can be charged. The cost of a say theoretical 600kw charging station would be astronomical, but the time to charge a 60kw battery would be about 6 minutes which is close to ICE cars. However, battery technology would have to improve to prevent early degradation of the battery at ultra high charging wattage. As battery technology improves we will see improvements in range as well as charging speed, both are important. You’re Musk comment regarding there is no market for a 400 mile range Model S is inaccurate. What Musk actually said back in 2016 is, “We could make a 400-mile range car today, like, that wouldn’t be too big of a deal. It’s decreasing the cost per unit of energy of the battery packs so you can make the car affordable. That’s actually the important thing,” Musk said at Vox Media’s Code Conference on Wednesday evening. Then the article stated that Musk said, “The Model S range is around 300 miles and that is quite a lot and it’s pretty rare that people need to go 300 miles at a time without stopping. So I don’t think we really have a range issue,” he said. That is different than what you claimed Musk said, plus, that was 2 years ago. I wonder what Musk thinks today about an affordable 400 mile range car. All I know is that I would like to see a 400 mile range affordable electric car with the infrastructure to stop at a charging station and charge it to 400 miles in 10 minutes, but I think that is at least 10 years off. Also, I think you’re incorrect about most people do not have range anxiety. I still suffer from range anxiety even with the 238 mile Bolt on long trips, because I know the charging infrastructure is not there yet. The process of finding a charging station is not the issue, there are plenty of apps for that. The anxiety is if there is a Fast DC charging station anywhere near where you want to go and is it working. And does your hotel have a level 2 charging station for over night charging? I just did a test to see how many non-Tesla fast DC Chargers there are in order to make a one day 1000 mile trip from Chicago to Denver, which I did 12 years ago in an ICE car. The answer is TWO. The first one is 482 miles away in Ashland, Nebraska. The second one is 336 miles away in Ovid, Colorado. So either there has to be more DC fast charging stations or an electric car’s range has to improve to 500 miles OR a compromise which would be to improve both. So, I am all for a 400+ mile range BEV car and more and faster charging stations throughout the country.
Musk: “it’s pretty rare that people need to go 300 miles at a time without stopping. So I don’t think we really have a range issue,” = My comment of: “Musk even commented that they could make a 400 mile Model S but that they don’t see a market for” which I did NOT put quotes…
I understand EV advocates and even people who do not work five days a week would be tripping over themselves even the Bolt EV increased the range by 5 miles but I don’t think they understand they are the extreme minority yet that will slowly change as more compelling EVs rollout…For the average household, they work five days a week, so even if they had the motivation to drive 400+ miles they may actually spend more if they need to take off vacation days…There really are people who spend their 20-60mins while charging talking to other owners, check their phone/computer, have a leisurely lunch, etc…They just aren’t your average Joe…
The problem with EV’s is infurstructure. There and too few charging stations and it take too long to charge up. It takes less than ten minutes to refuel a gasoline vehicle and sometimes hours to recharge a EV. Until they solve those problems EV’s will not replace conventional vehicles. They are good for short trips but there are still those who like to go on long trips. They are not all gear heads. Some of them only know how to refuel their vehicles which is quick and convenient with plenty of locations compared to charging stations.