For Ford (F), 2021 looks like the year when sales of electric (EV) vehicles will really start to take off. The automaker, which is about to launch its highly anticipated Mustang Mach E electric crossover, says the year will be crucial in terms of US EV sales.
“We have already seen some signs that indicate that we are going to begin to see a real acceleration in the adoption and attraction of consumers for electric vehicles,” Ford’s CTO, Ken Washington, told Yahoo Finance during CES 2021 fully virtual.
According to a November report by Frost & Sullivan, U.S. EV sales were estimated at 1.6 million vehicles in 2020, before reaching 7 million vehicles sold in 2025.
“I think what we’ll see is that the cost will continue to decline and, as governments make policy changes … I think that will lead to an acceleration of adoption that’s already happening in Europe, where we’re seeing that a out of ten vehicles it is fully electric, ”said Washington. “We think the acceleration is really going to start … this year.”
Ford’s big sale will be its next Mustang Mach-E electric crossover. Designed to tackle the market-leading Tesla (TSLA) Model Y, Mach-E starts at $ 42,895, or $ 35,395 after federal tax credits, while Model Y starts at $ 41,990, or $ 35,690 after incentives and gas savings .
The basic Mach-E gives you an estimated 230 miles per charge, while Ford’s California Route 1 model travels 305 miles on one charge. The basic Model Y, in turn, earns 244 miles on a payload or 326 on the extended range package.
Ford will see a formidable competitor at Tesla, who became the darling of Wall Street in 2020. The company’s stock has soared 714% in the past 12 months, from $ 103.70 per share on January 15, 2020 to $ 845 per share at the close of markets on January 14, 2021. Tesla’s market capitalization places it as the most valuable automaker in the world, despite selling a fraction of its competitors’ vehicles.
It is not only with Tesla that Ford will be competing. Other manufacturers are also delving into the EV space, including BMW, Honda (HMC), Volkswagen and Toyota (TM) – hell, there’s even a fully electric Hummer on the horizon.
Autonomous vehicles will arrive in 2022
In addition to electric vehicles, Washington offered its predictions of when drivers will begin to see fully autonomous vehicles hitting the road.
“We are moving towards the 2022 timeline, which is not much different than what we initially said, because we always knew it would be difficult, ”he said.
Tesla currently offers what it calls its Full Self-Driving Capability package, as well as its Autopilot feature, although both are far from providing the experience you would expect with something called “Full Self-Driving Capability”. Instead, the option is an advanced driver assistance package that still requires driver supervision.
Ford’s first autonomous vehicles, Washington explained, are likely to be taxi services or delivery vehicles, rather than consumer cars. The launch will also take time depending on the market, he said.
“It is important for everyone to understand that the adoption of scaling up of this technology will be relatively modest, because it has to go from market to market,” said Washington.
Cars that drive alone are far from the chimera they once were. With each automaker entering the market and building its own autonomous vehicles, it seems that the technology is a foregone conclusion.
However, the fact that the company puts truly autonomous vehicles on the road first will have incredible consequences, and Ford appears to be holding steady in the race.
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