Ford Hedges Bets on All Electric

Ford is touring the country to promote its fuel efficient lines.

Ford Motor Company is towing its hybrid and electric cars around the country, reminding consumers of its fuel efficient offerings. A stop in Nashville highlighted the night-and-day difference between Ford’s approach to electric vehicles and the thinking at Franklin-based Nissan North America.

Nissan has pinned its future on the success of 100 percent electric vehicles. But Ford is less committed to all-electric cars, which are currently limited to about 100 miles per charge creating some “range anxiety.” Bob Holycross is a manager in Ford’s sustainability division.

“It’s one thing to have a niche offering or something that’s going to catch a headline and be a corporate tagline, but what is really going to appeal to mainstream customers? And a pure battery electric vehicle, while it can satisfy a certain type of driving and a certain type of consumer, it’s not going to satisfy the mainstream.”

So while Nissan has mostly bypassed hybrid concepts for all-electric, Ford is trying a bit of everything.

The Ford Focus body style will soon be available with a gas engine, a gas/electric hybrid, a plug-in hybrid or fully battery powered.

The same plant in Michigan will build them all. Holycross says the company isn’t putting all its chips in one basket.

“With the scale you can get there, depending on which way the customer goes, we’re prepared to meet that demand if it’s going to be more of the plug-in, if it’s going to be more of the pure battery.”

Meanwhile, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has taken an all-or-nothing approach, believing that drivers will come to embrace the benefits of batteries. Globally, Nissan has invested billions of dollars in the technology since 2007, including a dedicated battery plant in Smyrna where the Leaf will be assembled starting in 2013.