Ford Aims to Cut Electrified Car Costs Through Volume Production

Ford Aims to Cut Electrified Car Costs Through Volume Production «

Ford Aims to Cut Electrified Car Costs Through Volume Production

Ford plans to introduce five new electrified vehicles in the U.S. market within the next two years. These include the Ford Transit Connect Electric van already in production and the Focus Electric that will be available in late 2011. Add to these the recently unveiled 2012 C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi, plus another hybrid electric vehicle to be announced later. The C-MAX Energi is essentially Ford’s answer to the Chevrolet Volt.

The C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi are two of at least 10 new models that Ford will launch worldwide that are based its new global C-car platform. These include coupe and convertible variants of sedan and crossover vehicles already slated for production. These Ford C-segment vehicles will be available in over 120 markets and could mean over two million units annually.

This large volume production allows Ford to take a quite different tack compared to other automakers when it comes to building electrified vehicles that promise significantly lower production costs. Ford’s EVs, hybrids, and plug-ins, along with their gasoline engine counterparts, will roll down the same production line at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. C-MAX Energi and C-MAX Hybrid vehicles sold in Europe will be built at Ford’s plant in Valencia, Spain, starting in 2013.

The Michigan Assembly Plant, which dates back to 1957 and previously built the Bronco, F-Series trucks, Expedition, and Lincoln Navigator, received a $550 million upgrade to initially allow production of the all-new Ford Focus and its electric version plus more C-segment models in the future. A key modification is a flexible body shop operation that features reprogrammable tooling, standardized equipment in the paint shop, and common-build sequence in final assembly. The plant is designed to be efficient and ergonomically friendly, with synchronous material flow and, with a skillet conveyor system designed to promote ease of movement for employees.

Besides taking advantages of economies of scale, this allows Ford to rapidly respond to changes in market demand. For example, if sales of the pure electric Focus Electric are hot, more can be quickly built simply by ordering more of the model specific modules and installing them. For the Focus Electric, it’s the front end module.

With this cost reduction manufacturing strategy, there will be no ‘purpose-built’ Ford electrified vehicles, as is the case with the Toyota Prius, Nissan Leaf, and Chevrolet Volt. The downside is that the Ford’s higher priced electric and hybrid vehicles are not easily distinguished from ordinary gasoline-only models. This can be an important consideration in selling vehicles to early adopters of green technology, as witnessed by the success of the readily-identifiable Prius compared to other hybrids that can be distinguished only by their ‘hybrid’ emblems. Ford believes that differentiating styling cues, such as unique front ends, will address the identification issue.