Posts Tagged: Ford

Ford will use new battery tech to help it build 600,000 EVs per year

Ford is refining its plans to expand EV production, and it will partly lean on new battery materials to achieve those goals. The automaker now expects to hit a global production rate of 600,000 EVs per year by late 2023 thanks in part to lithium iron phosphate battery packs in some of its vehicles, starting with Mustang Mach-Es sold in North America (in 2023) and F-150 Lightnings (in early 2024). The chemistry will expand Ford's capacity, allow for "many years" of use with little range loss, cut manufacturing costs and reduce the dependence on shortage-prone materials like nickel.

At that 600,000-EV rate, nearly half (270,000) of the vehicles produced will be Mustang Mach-Es destined for China, Europe and North America. The F-150 Lightning in North America will account for 150,000 EVs, while the rest include 150,000 electric Transit vans and 30,000 units of a still-unnamed European SUV. Ford said it has secured all the yearly battery capacity it needs to make this target, and 70 percent of the capacity it needs to reach a more ambitious objective of 2 million EVs per year by late 2026.

The news comes just hours after a report that Ford may cut up to 8,000 jobs to help fund its EV plans. The brand recently split into combustion and EV divisions to help with the electric transition, and has committed to spending $ 50 billion on electrification.

Ford had floated the 600,000-EV production target before. However, the battery developments and narrower timeframe paint a clearer picture of how that growth will take place. As it stands, there's mounting pressure on the company to ramp up its manufacturing. It only built 27,140 EVs in 2021, and has a significant backlog — you can't even place a standard retail order for the 2022 Mach-E "due to high demand." To some extent, the improved scale is as much about catching up as it is preparing for an all-electric future.

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Ford pilot uses self-driving shuttles to deliver food to Detroit seniors

Ford's autonomous delivery experiments now include potentially vital services. The automaker is launching a six-month pilot project that will have self-driving shuttles bring fresh food to residents of a Detroit senior living center, the Rio Vista Detroit Co-Op Apartments, that might otherwise have challenges fetching groceries. The free-of-charge offering will have the "low-speed" vehicle drive a fixed route between a Ford facility and Rio Vista, with a safety driver and a remote team ready to take over if necessary.

Notably, the shuttle doesn't involve Ford's partner Argo — this is a distinct effort between Ford's in-house autonomy team and the company's Quantum Signal AI subsidiary. The two have modified the shuttle to help with packing and unloading food, but it's otherwise a stock machine (as far as autonomous shuttles go, at least).

There's certainly a degree of publicity grabbing involved — Ford is conducting a pilot that doubles as a goodwill campaign. This will help Ford study slower self-driving technology and remote control, though. It also hints at a future where driverless vehicles help seniors maintain their quality of life when travel is impractical.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Ford hopes you’ll trade some privacy for discounted car insurance

Ford thinks it has a way to make car insurance more appealing: taking advantage of the data available from connected cars. It's teaming up with Nationwide to introduce its own take on usage-based insurance. If you have one of several 2020 Ford or L…
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Ford bought a robotics company to boost its self-driving cars

Back in April, Ford chief Jim Hackett admitted that the company overestimated the arrival of self-driving cars. He added that the applications of Ford's first autonomous fleet will likely be narrow, "because the problem is so complex." Now, the autom…
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Ford is taking its GoRide patient transport service nationwide

Ford has slowly but surely been expanding GoRide's reach ever since it launched the non-emergency medical transportation service. Now, the automaker has revealed its plans to deploy the system to 40 cities nationwide over the next four years after a…
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Ford expands Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to all 2017 models

Ford is expanding availability of its Sync 3 infotainment system to all 2017 models, and with it Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Both smartphone features are now available across Ford’s lineup.

The post Ford expands Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to all 2017 models appeared first on Digital Trends.

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