Blue Oval CEO says updates for EV can't afford to wait until facelift
Ford’s CEO Jim Farley says its Mustang Mach-E will be updated constantly during its life with both new software and hardware, instead of waiting for a traditional mid-life facelift to implement change.
Following Tesla’s example, that helped introduced the concept of constantly updating a model throughout its life, Ford’s boss say the change in strategy is an example of how it plans to radically alter the way it designs, develops and manufactures vehicles.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Farley said in the future his car-maker will not wait for traditional model year changes to upgrade its Mach-E, instead it will make changes “on the fly” via both over-the-air software updates, plus hardware improvements.
“We are not going to wait for next year. We’re are going to reengineer that vehicle now, and then use that expertise for the F-150 Lightning,” Farley told the newswire.
Thanks to its new strategy updating, Farley says it will lead to a cheaper production of the Mach-E.
Marking a sizeable departure from the legacy brand’s current practice, Farley confirmed it’s not just the Mach-E that will be improved before cosmetic refresh.
“We have learned so much about the lack of integration in our engineering operations as we compared our engineering on Mach-E to others that are best-in-class, and we are finding lots of profit opportunities. Being in the industry as long as I have, I haven’t felt this chance to take out so much cost after Job 1.”
Providing Bloomberg an example, Farley said one of the Mach-E improvements included refining the battery-electric SUV’s cooling system. As part of the updates the hoses were reduced by a third and the number of motor-driven pumps cut by half.
Fewer parts slash both complexity and cost leading to higher profits.
Keyword: Ford Mustang Mach-E to be continually updated