is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
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Ford announced a series of changes to its gas- and electric-powered vehicle business aimed at dramatically increasing hybrid vehicle production in the face of slowing EV sales. The automaker also will introduce some new products as part of this plan, including an extended-range EV version of its F-series truck and battery storage systems to meet growing demand from AI data center construction.
The news comes after Ford has weathered years of compounding losses from its struggling EV business. The 122-year-old company once had aspirations to surpass Tesla in battery-electric vehicle sales, but higher material costs and waning demand have since turned that goal into a financial albatross. Over the past two years, the company’s EV division, Ford Model e, has lost over $12 billion, with EV sales down over 60 percent in November alone. Now, Ford says it’s ready to pivot once again.
Hybrids are now going to be the major focus going forward, Ford said. The automaker expects gas-electric hybrids, extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), and smaller, more affordable battery-electric vehicles to make up 50 percent of its global volume by 2030, versus just 17 percent today. Ford says it expects its hybrid and EV business to be profitable by 2029.
Hybrids are now going to be the major focus going forward
“Rather than spending billions more on large EVs that now have no path to profitability, we are allocating that money into higher returning areas, more trucks and vans, hybrid, extended-range electric vehicles, affordable EVs, and entirely new opportunities like energy storage,” said Andrew Frick, president of Ford Model e and Ford Blue.
The shift won’t come cheap. Ford says it expects to record a $19.5 billion charge in 2025, with the majority in the fourth quarter. The company also expects to be hit with $5.5 billion in “cash effects” with the majority paid in 2026 and the leftover in 2027.
Nor will it come without major changes to Ford’s workforce. Ford recently agreed to dissolve its partnership with South Korean battery maker SK On, which will result in the automaker taking full ownership of the BlueOval SK battery factory in Kentucky. That factory will be repurposed to build energy storage systems, as first reported by Bloomberg. At least 1,600 employees are expected to lose their jobs as a result, though Frick said that more jobs, as much as 2,100, are expected to be added over the years.
“This is positive for jobs and positive for how much we’re going to utilize those plants,” Frick added.
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