After its rivals hit the market first with new, electrified vehicles late last year, Ford Motor Co. (F) is striking back Monday by expanding its lineup, including the introduction of the auto maker's first plug-in compact minivan.
After its rivals hit the market first with new,
electrified vehicles late last year, Ford Motor Co. (F) is striking back Monday
by expanding its lineup, including the introduction of the auto maker's first
plug-in compact minivan.
At the North American International Auto Show here Monday, Ford is unveiling
its new C-Max minivan--albeit more compact than a traditional minivan--in three
versions: a gas-powered engine model already on sale in Europe, a gas-electric
hybrid version of the five-passenger van using a lighter, smaller lithium-ion
rechargeable battery and the company's first plug-in hybrid called the Energi.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall
Street Journal website, WSJ.com.)
Last week, Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally unveiled a fully electric version
of its Ford Focus, a compact sedan that could compete with Nissan Motor Co.'s
(NSANY) new Leaf, which also runs solely on battery-electric power. The
all-electric Focus will hit the North American market late this year and come
to
Europe
in
2012. General Motors Co. (GM) began selling its new Chevy Volt last year, the
industry's first, mass-produced plug-in hybrid from a leading manufacturer.
"One technology does not work for all customers--hybrids, plug-in hybrids
and all-electric vehicles each offer distinctly different advantages,"
Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president of global product development, said
in a statement. "By leveraging our global platforms, we are able to offer
our customers more choices of electrified solutions as part of a fuel-efficient
product lineup."
But the
Dearborn
,
Mich.
, auto maker's commitment to the endeavor is unclear as company
officials have yet to detail how many of these electrified vehicles they intend
to build in the coming years. Both GM and Nissan have said they expect sales in
the tens of thousands, including producing as many as 60,000 Volts next year.
Ford claims an advantage in an expected worry from owners over how far the car
can go on a single charge. According to the car company, the C-Max Energi can
drive more than 500 miles of overall driving range using the battery and
gas-powered engine--more than any other plug-in or extended-range electric
vehicle. It was unclear under what driving conditions that range is estimated.
Both the Focus and the C-Max, as well as one additional unnamed hybrid, will be
built off the same basic architecture, allowing the company to benefit from
economies of scale of more than 2 million vehicles assembled annually for 120
markets while reducing development and manufacturing costs. Ford believes this
class of compact car has enormous potential: It accounts for one in four cars
sold worldwide today and, together with subcompacts like the Ford Fiesta, is
expected to rise to 50% of all cars sold globally by 2013, according to Ford
projections.
With small volumes expected on these new electric cars, competition for early
adopters for the pricey technology could be fierce. Ford said that its plug-in
hybrid version of the five-passenger C-MAX will achieve better energy
efficiency--a mile-per-gallon equivalent better--than Chevrolet Volt as well as
charging in half the time of a Nissan Leaf.
Ford's roll-out of five new hybrid and electric passenger vehicles began in
December with the 2011 Ford Transit Connect Electric. In many ways, Ford is
outsourcing production of the variant of its small commercial van, allowing a
separate electric motor to be installed by Azure Dynamics.
By 2013, Ford plans to introduce an additional, still unnamed hybrid vehicle. Each
of the new electrified vehicles will be equipped with technology so that owners
can keep track of the vehicles functions, including charging levels and range,
remotely through their smart cell phones.
Both the C-Max Energi and C-Max hybrid models will be built alongside the
redesigned Ford Focus and Focus Electric at the auto maker's assembly plant in
Wayne
,
Mich.
, starting next year, followed
by
Europe
in
2013.
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