Another hint at the future of Ford

[Richard Hinsley]

The range is not there, yet. Ford is goi g electric with Rivian already. We are witnessing the end of the ICE and not just the end of V8"s. Tesla, Rivian and ikola Motors will have 900hp electric trucks on the street very soon and we will be the old dinosaurs. Enjoy them while we can.

 

[EricM]

Disagree.

V8's will be come more common- not less. The thirst for power will demand more displacement. My prediction is Ford will be forced by competition to develop a TT V8 for their top end gas trucks somewhere in the 4.6L range that will make around 700 to 1000 HP depending on boost levels.

We are certainly not witnessing the end of the ICE and we are nowhere even close to the end of the ICE. There is a huge chunk of the population that does not want a battery fueled truck or car. It's not about electric vs ICE, it's about the fuel tank, battery vs gasoline. Gasoline has approx 36 kWhs of energy per gallon.

That means a Raptor with a 30 gallon tank has over 1000 kWhs at it's disposal and that can be "recharged" in 5 minutes or less. Yes, the ICE is not as efficient at using that energy, but it gets better every single year. OTOH, motors are damn near the efficiency maximum already, the batteries deplete themselves just sitting there, and they fare poorly in extreme cold as well.

So the real competition is between the ICE efficiency and the energy density in batteries. As the efficiency of ICEs continues to slowly inch up, the goalposts for batteries keep moving further away. Not saying it won't eventually happen- but I am saying we are not currently witnessing it. Lithium ion battery powered vehicles are not going to get it done.

 

[Donmatteo]

There is a happy medium between all electric and V8 power. It's V6 power boosted with electrics. Big difference.

And I think, save for a few exotic's, the V8/V10/V12 will go away.

 

[jamanrr]

Disagree.

Gasoline has approx 36 kWhs of energy per gallon.

It is more like 33.7 KwH and the equivalent MPGe rating of 110 miles per gallon. So, really no where near as efficient from that stand point especially when you can say that the average electricity rate of .10-.12 cents per KwH. This means it is around 4 bucks to travel 100 miles in an electric vehicle. If you buy gas at 2 bucks a gallon then you would need 5 gallons to hit 100 miles or 10 bucks total. So, in this example it is half the price.

 

[RaptorAddict1]

Right now we do not have near the infrastructure needed to support a scenario where a majority of the vehicles on the road are electric(aside from major cities). I also don't believe the technology is advanced enough to be practical. The range isn't yet long enough and the charging times aren't short enough to be practical. I'm not saying that we won't eventually get to a place where electric vehicles become viable. But we are a ways out from that place I believe. I think we will see more hybrids and more efficient ICE motors before electric vehicles become the mainstream.

 

[smurfslayer]

Right now we do not have near the infrastructure needed to support a scenario where a majority of the vehicles on the road are electric(aside from major cities).

you ain’t just whistling dixie. There are several places in the US that host rolling “brown outs” during summer months and peak usage hours. Most major metro areas task their weather personnel with the job of scolding people not to use their electric dryers during the day, keep a/c set at 78F and a host of other admonishments. For most of us, it just rolls off our backs, but, there are several places where this is more than a mere suggestion. Metro-DC; Dominion power has new meters that cycle the power off for you during peak demand and I’m sure other power companies are doing the same.

The additional demand that “plug in” electric vehicles will place on the ‘grid will present a pretty immediate need to upgrade, and there will be power rationing introduced until the upgrades are completed. Even if it’s not a full plug in, if you’re getting any kind of assistive charging from the grid, it will create an impact.

I also don't believe the technology is advanced enough to be practical. The range isn't yet long enough and the charging times aren't short enough to be practical. I'm not saying that we won't eventually get to a place where electric vehicles become viable. But we are a ways out from that place I believe. I think we will see more hybrids and more efficient ICE motors before electric vehicles become the mainstream.

That pretty much nails it. Full electric is an aspirational goal right now, and we’re all kind of collectively sitting around waiting for the big breakthrough, which never really comes. Evolutionary advancements and changes occur over a relatively long period of time to achieve viability. Right now, the cost of a vehicle with “comparable” range and as has been pointed out already, there’s quite a wide variation in range based on external factors, including environmental. I think a stop gap idea may be hot swappable batteries. Michael Czyz was doing this with his 1st gen electric superbike and while it was a bit heavy, in a car this could have some viability. You operate on say 4 out of 6 cells, the 2 standby cells are charging only wheel and/or supplemental generation. as the main cells deplete to a certain level they’re swapped in as active either physically or auto-magically.

In a competition you’d pull the cells and plug in fully charged cells, but we have pit stops for fuel/tires in several racing competitions now so it’s not like this isn’t viable. It’s the day to day usage and time it takes to recharge a street going electric vehicle vs a gas powered one.

 

[melvimbe]

I think practicality of EVs depends on the particular household. As a sole vehicle, it doesn't make a lot of sense for most people. As a second vehicle in the house, it can make sense. I would bet that the majority of EV owners use EVS as second vehicle, relying on using their spouses vehicle when you need more than the EV can offer. I wouldn't rely on charging away from home.

I know of a few people that could leverage that sort of setup. The husband or wife is driving a accord or camry type currently and could switch over. The issue I see is, this sort of setup is usually done for economic reasons, but get an accord/camry equivalent EV is not going to be much of a cost savings.