Electric vehicle buyers usually have ecological and economical motives when purchasing a new car, though not everyone wants a locally zero-emissions machine just to go green or save money. Many customers are thrilled by the performance those cars offer and in fact, according to Ford, the larger portion of the potential EV consumers would switch to electric power not because of environmental motivation, but because they want the performance that comes with it.
If you take a look at the company’s EV portfolio in the United States, you won’t find a small, affordable, and efficient electric vehicle in the same category as the Nissan Leaf, for example. The situation is the same in Europe, though the Old continent will soon receive a Ford-badged electric vehicle based on a Volkswagen platform, as well as an all-electric Puma crossover. In America, the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, both very powerful and not quite efficient, are Ford’s EV best-sellers.
Gallery: 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E
So, what’s the automaker’s answer to the needs of the US market? Only “insanely great” electric vehicles even if they are not as ecological as they could potentially be. “We use that all the time in meetings, 'if it’s like today but a bit better, cancel it.’ We’re not going to make that, it’s not the winning formula. The winning formula for Ford is picking the segments our customers love and then figuring out how to make them insanely great, to do things they've never done before,” Darren Palmer, VP of electric vehicle programs for the Ford Model E division, explained in a recent interview with CarsGuide.
Or, if we have to translate the marketing language, Ford wants to make electric vehicles that people want to buy because of their design, performance, and technology. If this strategy sounds familiar, it’s probably because automakers such as Porsche and Polestar are following a very similar path. “There are other reasons for people to have them that are logical, but the most important thing is ‘you’ve got to have it,’” Palmer also explained.
Does the customer even care about going green? Not so much, Ford believes, as Emma Bergg, director of communications for Ford’s electric vehicle programs, told the Australian publication the clients don’t really “care about the end-to-end story.” Ultimately, Ford wants to give them “something they’ve never had before.”
