Ford’s Director Against Heavy and Large Batteries for Electric Cars

I have no idea what is currently happening in this industry, said Ford’s CEO Jim Farley at the company’s annual conference. That statement referred to the state of batteries for electric cars, which are becoming larger with each model, prompting Farley to state that ‘batteries are becoming too huge’.

American automakers rely on large batteries to power their equally large electric vehicles — especially electric pickups that will soon flood the American market. Car companies have (perhaps justifiably) assumed that the best way to sell an electric car to the American public is to produce electric pickups and trucks. And such car models are enormous, so they need equally large batteries to give such heavy vehicles any range.

The Rivian R1T truck and R1S SUV operate on batteries of up to 135kWh. The Hummer EV’s 212 kWh battery is heavier than an entire Honda Civic.

Farley is right

This is not sustainable. Larger batteries, greater range, heavier trucks… these are not the hallmarks of the significant change that the automotive industry is trying to sell us. This is evidence that supports the old adage, which says that the more things change, the more they stay the same. We are trading bad things, like emissions from exhaust pipes, for other bad things, like everything involved in mining, refining, and producing the battery for EVs – said the Ford director.

There are also a number of environmental concerns regarding these electric vehicle batteries. Such vehicles are generally heavier than their internal combustion engine counterparts. But it seems that many people forget that heavier vehicles themselves pollute the environment more than lighter ones.

However, Ford’s CEO Farley is not concerned about the environment but about cost, as heavier batteries are more expensive, harder to produce, and tend to reduce profit margins, which automakers are very protective of.

If you have such batteries, you will not profit. So, we need to talk about size and efficiency – said Farley.

Still, it seems that Farley himself has forgotten that Ford has also contributed to this problem with its F-150 Lightning battery, which weighs 816 pounds, the weight of a Volkswagen Beetle.