During Ford’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call on Wednesday, the automaker shared its electrification roadmap, reiterating that it would focus on small and medium-sized EVs that are more economically viable instead of going all guns blazing with battery-electric models across all segments. “For larger retail, electric utilities, the economics are unresolvable,” Farley said. “These customers have very demanding use cases for an electric vehicle. They tow, they go off-road, they take long road trips. These vehicles have worse aerodynamics and they're very heavy, which means very large and expensive batteries.” A Ford spokesperson later clarified to InsideEVs that Farley was specifically referring to large, customer-focused "utility" vehicles—SUVs like the Ford Expedition and so on. Despite some setbacks and the cancellation of its large three-row SUV, Ford is far from done with EVs, however. The automaker is planning a midsize all-electric truck that is a kind of quasi-F-150 Lightning successor; a family of from-the-ground-up EVs on its so-called "skunkworks" platform; and a broadened series of electrified vehicles, including hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which Farley elaborated on during the call. Yet the economics of using a very large EV battery—say, 180 kWh or more—have been singled out as troubling as the auto industry seeks a zero-emission future.
