F-150 Lightning

Make
Ford
Segment
Sports Car

The EV battery war is not about to become the new horsepower war, at least according to Ford CEO Jim Farley, who doesn't understand the current fascination with mega battery packs and extremely long ranges. Speaking at the company's Capital Markets Day event earlier this week, Ford will aim to keep battery packs as small as possible to save costs, as per Green Car Reports.

That doesn't mean Ford isn't interested in competitive ranges, as evidenced by its promised three-row electric SUV that should be good for 350 miles, but the company won't be chasing ranges of over 500 miles. Some of Farley's comments were barely veiled snubs at General Motors, which already builds one of the market's largest, heaviest, and least efficient EVs.

"All I hear is all these announcements of [a] 450-mile range, a 500-mile range, there was another one today about a three-row crossover, it's going to go electric," said Farley. "These batteries are huge; if you have those kinds of batteries, you will not make money."

There is a good chance that Farley was referring to the upcoming electric Escalade IQ, an SUV that will probably share its architecture with the GMC Hummer EV. In case you forgot, the Hummer has a giant 205-kWh battery (usable capacity) and is very expensive to recharge. Considering the Escalade's size, it would also need a massive battery to achieve a decent range.

Another upcoming EV with a massive battery is the Ram 1500 REV with its 229-kWh battery, which will deliver a targeted range of over 500 miles.

"I don't understand why everyone is so obsessed with battery size," said Farley. "Right now, it's like, what range can you get? But the next question is, what size battery do you need for a competitive range? The second is a better question than the first. So the size of the batteries in the second-gen is really important on cost."

Instead of mega battery packs, Ford's next generation of EVs will be designed to focus on saving weight, limiting production complexity, and slippery aerodynamics. By so doing, Ford can fit smaller batteries and keep costs down.

Lowering costs is crucial for Ford since its EV division is years away from profitability, despite the success of models like the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E.

Considering the issues posed by heavier EVs with larger batteries, we're inclined to side with the Farley approach. No customer will complain about having more range to work with, but a greater emphasis on efficiency seems like a more intelligent move.

Ford's new three-row electric SUV will have a battery capacity of around 100 kWh when it arrives in 2025, about the same as the available 99.8-kWh battery that will be available in the Kia EV9, also a three-row electric SUV.