JAKARTA Ford is preparing a big step to strengthen its position in the electric vehicle (EV) market by forming a special team called Skunkworks.
This secret team is tasked with developing a new generation EV platform that focuses on cost efficiency and is ready to challenge Tesla's dominance and Chinese manufacturers in the affordable electric car segment.
Ford's Chief Executive Officer, Jim Farley, said the Skunkworks team has been working since 2021 and consists of the best engineers ever involved in EV projects from companies such as Tesla, Rivian, to Lucid.
The first product being developed includes medium-sized trucks and compact crossovers built from scratch, not the product of adaptation of existing gasoline car platforms. Different from the premium EV strategy that relies on large and expensive batteries, Ford through the Skunkworks emphasizes the balance between performance and production costs.
"Large batteries mean high prices," said Farley, quoted from InsideEvs, Saturday, October 18.
Therefore, Ford is committed to presenting EVs with moderate capacity batteries to reduce selling prices. The company targets an entry-level model to be priced below US$30,000, or around Rp.497 million.
To support this ambition, Ford will produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries through a new plant at BlueOval Battery Park Michigan starting in 2026.
This facility has a capacity of up to 20 GWh per year, enough to produce around 250,000 EV units. The battery technology uses a license from Chinese company CATL, known as one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world.
Ford targets electric vehicles from the Skunkworks project to be ready to launch in 2027. Even so, the company is still considering the main production site for its medium-sized trucks.
Several potential locations include EV campus in West Tennessee and assembly plant in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition, this EV model will also be equipped with a NACS charging port, so it is compatible with Tesla Supercharger networks in the United States.
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