Ford CEO: It's time for America to be competitive in electric vehicles

Brian Sozzi
·Executive Editor
3 min read
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Ford CEO Jim Farley is sending a clear message to those on Capitol Hill who are tepid to support President Joe Biden's investments in America's electric vehicle infrastructure.

Either sign-off on the funding, or risk America falling further behind in an EV race being won at the moment by China.

"I think it's time for us to be competitive [on electric vehicles]. We have got to be globally competitive in batteries. All the chip manufacturing, some of it has to come back to the U.S. This is a competitive issue for our country," Farley said on Yahoo Finance Live.

The Biden administration has laid out plans to spend nearly $200 billion over eight years to support the surging EV industry, an amount some Republicans have balked at. The administration is rumored to be eyeing an expansion of the tax incentive to consumers, which could be a big tailwind to sales at Ford, General Motors and Tesla.

Biden is also pledging support to build out 500,000 charging stations and bolster the battery production supply chain.

For its part, Ford is primed to benefit from any government investment in the nation's EV infrastructure. The company has seen blistering sales of its new all-electric Mustang Mach-E. And on Wednesday made its boldest statement yet as part of a $22 billion electric vehicle investment plan through 2025. Ford debuted its first fully electric F-150 on Wednesday evening, dubbed the Lightning.

Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company's chief executive officer, stands next to the company's new Ford F-150 Lightning, Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Dearborn, Mich. On the outside, the electric version of Ford's F-150 pickup looks about the same as the wildly popular gas-powered truck. The new truck called the F-150 Lightning can go up to 300 miles per charge, with a starting price of just under $40,000. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The extended range, battery powered Lightning promises 10,000 pounds of towing capacity, over the air software updates and the ability to power your home via a backup power capability. This version — which starts at $50,000 or so — boasts a 300-mile range on a charge, 563 horsepower and travels 0 mph to 60 mph in about 4.4 seconds.

Farley told Yahoo Finance Live Ford has already amassed 20,000 pre-orders for the truck in about 12 hours.

"Customers want this technology. You want to think of these vehicles not as electric, but just like your phone," Farley said.

The F-150 Lightning is set to begin production in mid-2022.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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