The recent climate warnings are renewing the call for more electric vehicles.
Mar 24, 2023 7:14pm ET
• 6 minutes reading time
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world is “on thin ice” and earlier this week called for “climate action on all fronts” while unveiling the latest UN climate report.
The report says greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise as the odds of slowing climate change shrink — unless those emissions are drastically reduced by the 2050s.
Ford CEO Jim Farley unveiled the company’s plans to reduce those emissions, including its new green manufacturing facility and the facility’s first vehicle, an electric truck codenamed Project T3. Farley joined GMA3 to discuss the plans and what they mean for the future of manufacturing.
Ford CEO Jim Farley talks about a new Ford electric pickup truck factory currently under construction in rural Tennessee March 24, 2023 in Stanton, Tennessee. Adrian Sainz/AP
DEMARCO MORGAN: The UN Secretary-General says it takes a quantum leap and climate action to mitigate global warming. Can you tell us about the BlueOval City work behind you and how you see it as groundbreaking?
JIM FARLEY: It’s a game changer for us. And good day to you. Game changer for us because we’re really starting to scale EVs. We’re number two in the US, and with this facility, not only are we creating 6,000 American jobs, we’re adding, you know, hundreds of thousands of capacity, and the facility will be completely green. All the electrons powering the plant will be green electricity. So it’s not just a story about an electric vehicle. It’s actually a much larger story about modernizing and decarbonizing our American manufacturing industrial system.
EVA PILGRIM: And today Ford is announcing the first vehicle to be built at the facility where you are today, an electric vehicle codenamed Project T3. It’s a truck. What will we see that we haven’t seen in other electric vehicles? And when will it be rolled out?
FARLEY: Well, you know, our Lightning is the best-selling electric pickup truck in the US, but this will be its successor, and it will be fully software-upgradable. This allows us to wirelessly change and improve the truck for our customers every day. And we think it’ll be the first technology we’ll land on the Autobahn on a sunny day where you can sleep in your Ford truck. So we don’t have autonomous features for commuters where you know you’re getting back the most precious thing in your life, which is time.
MORGAN: And Jim, it’s no secret that Ford has embraced the EV market as much as others, and yet EVs are struggling with their share of problems. About 18 Ford F-150 Lightnings had to be recalled earlier this year because of a battery fire. There have been battery fires at Tesla, GM, BMW, Volvo, all had EV fire risk recalls. How can you reassure people that your electric vehicles are safe?
FARLEY: Well, I mean, I’m so proud of the Lightning team. They stopped production. We have stopped battery production. We did everything we had to do. We found this fire. It happened at Ford, not in the hands of the customer. We did exactly the right thing. Unlike other brands, we have stopped production. None of them fell into the hands of the customer. And that’s what we need to do to build a trusted EV brand. We’re also transitioning to a diversified battery chemistry that poses fewer risks, like the LMP battery plant we’re building in Michigan.
PILGRIM: We need to talk about money. Electric vehicles are expensive, more expensive than conventional cars. So if this is going to be better for our planet, how do you make these vehicles affordable so anyone who wants one can actually have one?
FARLEY: Yes, good question. And that’s obviously a big part of Ford. You know, we’ve democratized affordable vehicles, so that’s a big part of our DNA. I think the first part is that we need to design the vehicle differently to be much simpler. We need to scale from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. Like today, we will have more efficient distribution without inventory like we have with our dealers today. And we will have to build it with less work. So basically we have to change everything.
MORGAN: Jim, before you go, the UN climate report says that to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, we need to halve global emissions by 2030 and reduce to net zero by 2050. Are you optimistic that the world can achieve this goal? Is it possible?
FARLEY: It’s possible if companies like Ford do what we have to do. It’s absolutely possible.