It definitely upsets some readers, but here at Jalopnik, we’re fully on Team Don’t Drive A Childcrusher 9000. Cars are fun and all, but they’re not more important than people’s lives. And unfortunately for everyone who does anything outside of a car, tall hoods on large trucks and SUVs make them especially deadly in the event of a crash. As it turns out, though, we do have an unlikely ally — Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, a company that almost exclusively sells trucks and SUVs.
The Guardian reports that while speaking at the Aspen Ideas festival, Farley made a few comments that, if posted as an op-ed on here, would have probably gotten him yelled at by a whole bunch of commenters stuck in the grays. And yet, he’s right. If only Ford actually sold anything other than the Mustang and possibly the Maverick that might count as small.
“We have to start to get back in love with smaller vehicles. It’s super important for our society and for EV adoption,” Farley told the Guardian. “We are just in love with these monster vehicles, and I love them, too, but it’s a major issue with weight.”
Sure, in the desert, a Ford F-150 Raptor R is probably an absolute blast. I wouldn’t know. If there’s one in the Atlanta fleet, I certainly haven’t been told about it. It would’ve been nice if Farley had also talked about the danger those “monster vehicles” pose to people, but hey, we’ll take what we can get, and if he’s upset about weight, then the enemy of our enemy is still our friend.
And according to Farley, he’s actually putting his money where his mouth is, saying, “You have to make a radical change as an [automaker] to get to a profitable EV. The first thing we have to do is really put all of our capital toward smaller, more affordable EVs.” And allegedly, there’s a small $30,000 EV coming in less than three years. It still remains to be seen how small it will actually be, but we’d love to see something aimed at the upcoming Chevrolet Bolt instead of an electric Ford Escape.
Of course, a big part of this also comes down to cost, not just for the company but for customers, as well. After decades of corporations collectively working to destroy the middle class, the number of people who can afford a massive vehicle with an equally massive battery is pretty small. And if that’s all you’re selling, well, you’re missing out on sales, if not profits.
“That’s the duty cycle that we’ve now found that really matches. These huge, enormous EVs are never going to make money: the battery is $50,000, even with low-nickel, LFP chemistry. They will never be affordable,” Farley continued, later clarifying that he was specifically referencing heavy-duty electric trucks.
It isn’t perfect, but you know what? We’ll take it. Bring back the Fiesta!