Ford Goes 'All In' on Electric Cars With $11 Billion Investment

Industry Week ^ | 1/15/2018 | cp124

[Myrddin]

I purchased a Harley Fat Bob and a trailer. Hitched that to me F150 and traveled to San Diego. The F150 was parked. Trailer stored in the garage at the place I rented a room. 99% of my travel occurred on 2 wheels. 38 to 49 MPG. Lane splits to dodge the insanity of the bumper to bumper freeways. From Sept 2010 to Sept 2014, I added 30,000 miles on my F150. During the same interval I had my Kawasaki Versys, Harley XL1200R and Fat Bob accruing 20,000 miles EACH. The 1999 F150 was purchased USED in 2003 with 22,500 miles. Today in 2018, it just turned over 64,000 miles. The bikes haven't added a total of 200 miles (collectively) since Sept 2014. No time to enjoy them with 55 to 70 hour weeks. I want to change that latter situation before I'm too damn old and enjoy them.

As an aside, I could have easily substituted one of the Zero series electric bikes for commuting to work. I had reduced that to 7.5 miles one-way between Clairemont Dr/Balboa Ave and Genesee/Campus Point Drive. The electric would have been unsatisfactory for my weekend rides to Julian or a late Summer round trip San Diego <--> Pocatello. The Fat Bob yielded 49.5 MPG over the 1800+ miles round trip.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Hes an idiot.Come on ford and lose this guy.

[yoe]

Now this looks like a car!

[Myrddin]

I have 2 F150 4x4 trucks in the driveway. 1999 F150 Supercab, 5.2 Triton V8 with 64000 miles. The 2015 SuperCrew have the EcoTech V6 with 6 speed. Both are 4x4 and perfect for Pocatello and Idaho in general. We went through a phase with a 2003 Escape (V6) and 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. The "kids" are off th nest. No compelling need to seat a family of 5 (now 4 after #1 son passed in 2012). During the Summer months we have the option of taking the motorcycles out. Have 8 in the garage. One dual sport that is getting considered to trade in against a Yamaha SR400. I want a lighter bike with good gas mileage. The SR400 gets 66 MPG on regular gas and has a 3.2 gallon gas tank. Perfect for a run to Idaho Falls (53 miles one way).

[Captain Peter Blood]

What a dumb move. If Hank the Deuce was still in charge this would not be happening.

[Myrddin]

Hydrogen is a STORE of energy. Mostly a store of electricity with some loss in efficiency in the conversion. One still has to generate the electricity. There may be some chemical processes to convert natural gas to hydrogen, but why do that? You can run a vehicle directly on natural gas without the loss in energy.

[central_va]

New Ford. Found on roadside drained.

[Nakota]

Probably gonna call’em Edsels too.

[itsahoot]

Marketing them to replace cars with 300-500 mile ranges, was a losing proposition IMO.

Well I guess those over the road 18 wheelers they are beginning to make will be a mistake. 😎

[Myrddin]

From direct experience, the Mercury Mariner Hybrid was touted as a 32 MPG vehicle with a $3,000 tax credit. Lie number 1...the tax credit was $1200. Lie #2: the vehicle achieved 32 MPG exactly ONCE in the 7 years we owned it. That was on a San Diego to Pocatello run. Early September. Mild weather, so no heat or air conditioning. Cruise control and no freeway congestion. The real AVERAGE was 26 MPG over the life of the car. Spring and Fall might reach 28 MPG. Winter dropped to 21 MPG as the cold affected the battery capacity and required heating at all times. We had -15F and the seat heat was barely enough to keep our teeth from chattering.

That Mariner was $32,000 out the door. We put 108,000 miles on it. Trade in as $6700 against the new 2015 F150 CrewCab. The Mariner has lots of "toys". Seat heat. Moon roof. In-dash NAV. Satellite Radio. Leather seats. Fanciest car I've ever owned. The replacement is less fancy, more functional. On a good day doing 80 MPH on I-15, we get about 19 MPG. Taking it down to 55 MPH will push the mileage to 23 MPG. Best ever since purchase was 24.5 MPG on a trip to Yellowstone.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the mention. Folks have a variety of ways of coping with traffic. Sounds like you found a good one.

I purchased an e-bike that I tool around on.

It’ll do 25 mph and get me between 20 and 30 miles on a charge.

I enjoy it a lot.

It’s has the off road 4” tires. I can go about anywhere on it. In California I’ve ridden it near Yosemite, on Jalama Beach, and in the foothills from Glendale to the top of La Crescenta.

Being able to peddle it, I get a fair bit of exercise, while being able to back off and let it do the work if I need to.

[ASOC]

Most Ecars have a battery heater, they must be over 100F to maximize output.

Once again, no thanks.

[ConservaTeen]

Henry Ford was looking to build an electric vehicle in the early 1900s...but he decided to go with gasoline...

[Myrddin]

Ha...just in time for the start of the next ice age....if the Sun doesn't make any sunspots by then.

That is no small consideration. I'll be 66 that year. Unlikely to be a customer for a new car. More likely mulling retirement and short range travel. I can acquire 99% of my needs within 2 miles of my house. The 50 mile trips to Idaho Falls are for fun. Indoor shooting range. Gun shops. Bookstore. Some favorite restaurants.

[DoughtyOne]

You plan on driving one of those to the grocery store do ya? LOL

I’ve seen the articles on those. They may make it work, but we’re not seeing cars in the 300-500 mile range yet. There may be a model or two out there I haven’t seen.

If you want too drive cross country, I’m not convinced even a 300-500 mile charge is going to work wonders. If they could use capacitors (believe that’s right) so they could recharge them in a few minutes, it might come close to a gas fill-up in time. Then we’re talking a reasoned comparison to gas engine driven cars.

[DoughtyOne]

I wasn’t aware of that. Thanks.

[Myrddin]

I observed a new Leaf owner stealing power at the Fry's Electronics store in San Diego. Pulled right up to the front of the building and plugged into a 120 VAC socket. He was there for HOURS. The laughable part is his family was with him. They were they for hours too. Huge shopping spree. Whatever he hoped to save in fuel costs was more than offset by the "retail therapy" his wife was getting during the recharging interval.

[Myrddin]

Nice. Some of my buddies that were salescritters at El Cajon Harley opened a shop near Old Town in San Diego. They have Zero electrics, some Enfield and some Triumph bikes. Zero keeps getting better. They have on and off-road flavors. Enjoy and be careful. I've dropped from 191 lbs to 146 lbs in the last couple years. A lighter bike (SR400 is 381 lbs) might be easier than my Fat Bob at 870 lbs. Have to wait for the icy streets to melt off before riding again. Overnight was +26F and left a sheet of ice on my driveway and the street beyond the driveway. I'll wait for Spring.

[mulligan]

More money down the toilet.

[itsahoot]

Problem solved.