I appreciate that Rivian carries with it an appreciation for the wild areas, the natural world, and going out into the mountains to enjoy life. I appreciate that Rivian’s staff goes to these places, and has their own ah-hah moment that their work in developing an electric pickup truck could…
Today Ford Motors has announced it has the largest electric car charging network in the world, with over 12,000 charging locations. Uh, blink blink, how did that happen? It did not come about by buying the Car Charging Group (owner of the Blink network), writing “blink blink” was simply one’s…
On a newly-launched Medium publication, Ford Motors announces a new effort at electrified vehicles, and teases us with a “Mustang-inspired fully electric performance utility” vehicle with a 300 mile electric range. That’s a lot to swallow at once, so lets break it apart. Ford has launched a new Medium publication, Live Electric,…
Ford Motors recently announced two plans that reawaken interest in Ford’s electrification plans. I think most people have forgotten about those plans, because Ford seemingly hasn’t done very much. Except, if you look at the monthly sales figures you see that Ford C-Max Energi and Ford Fusion Energi sales, if taken…
Ford is investing an additional $4.5 billion in electrified vehicle solutions by 2020, including the new Focus Electric with all-new DC fast-charge capability, which delivers 80 percent charge in an estimated 30 minutes and projected 100-mile range The company is adding 13 new electrified vehicles to its product portfolio by…
Ford is expanding its global battery research and development footprint for electrified vehicles this year, adding research and engineering capabilities in Europe and Asia to take advantage of new market opportunities The company has invested in a world-class battery research and development facility at the University of Michigan to…
Today two different car makers announced expansion of their electric vehicle charging station programs. We applaud any increase in charging station deployments, because there is a crying need to switch to electric drive, and more charging stations is an essential necessary step. However, the charging stations aren’t being deployed for public use, but for…
Ford Motors is focusing on water issues in its 15th annual Sustainability report. The company made a commitment to aggressively step up efforts on water reduction/conservation, and is two years ahead of schedule. We can hear Ford’s Sustainability leaders patting themselves on the back from here. One place the “Long…
One of the negative impacts of regular gasoline powered cars is the lead-acid battery that drives the starter motor, and also helps to run the 12 volt system. Lead acid battery production has a negative impact because Lead is obviously one of the horrid chemicals. While lead acid batteries are…
Ford (and other automakers) envision future cars with high tech infotainment systems galore where car dashboards could have downloadable app’s just like todays smart phones and tablets. With the OpenXC platform Ford is creating a channel for open collaboration with 3rd party application developers, allowing them to use cars like the Ford Focus to prototype their…
