Ford trims EV battery orders as losses swell to over $100,000 per electric car in Q1
With losses piling up, Ford is cutting back on EV battery orders. According to sources, the move comes as Ford’s EV losses pile up, topping over $100,000 per electric car built in the first quarter.
After announcing plans to delay around $12 billion in EV spending last year, Ford has continued to push back EV initiatives, citing slower-than-expected market demand.
After cutting F-150 Lightning production again earlier this year (for the second time in less than five months), Ford trimmed the workforce at its Rouge EV plant, where the electric truck is built.
Ford revealed the plans in January, claiming EV demand was slowing. According to Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch (via The Detroit Free Press), one-third of the 2,100 workers remained at the plant starting April 1, 2024.
Meanwhile, 700 workers have been transferred to its Michigan Assembly plant, while the other 700 were offered a $50,000 retirement package or reassignment to the MI facility.
The move didn’t result in job losses. Instead, workers were offered reassignments or retirement. Now, it looks like Ford is throttling back on more EV plans.
Ford cuts battery orders as losses top 100K per EV
According to people with knowledge of the matter, Ford is cutting battery orders from suppliers with growing EV losses.
The move comes after Ford slashed prices, creating even larger EV losses. In a new Bloomberg report, one source said Ford lost over $100,000 for every EV built in the first quarter—more than double the amount lost a year ago.
Despite cutting orders, Ford is maintaining partnerships with its battery suppliers including SK, LG Energy Solution, and CATL.
CATL said its “cooperation with Ford is moving forward as normal,” while SK and LG said their contracts with Ford remain. Meanwhile, a Ford spokesperson said the company doesn’t typically comment on supplier relationships.
Ford projects Model e losses to reach $5.5 billion this year after a $1.3 billion EBIT loss in Q1. Although Ford expects EV costs to improve, the company expects this will be offset by top-line pressure.
Electrek’s Take
If the report is accurate, this could be the latest setback in Ford’s EV plans. The automaker is already pushing back around $12 billion in EV spending, slashing prices, and delaying new model launches.
Ford is shifting to smaller, more profitable EVs with plans to delay its three-row electric SUV in the US.
Although Ford is improving EV costs, it’s also cutting prices to keep pace with Tesla and others like Hyundai, which have introduced significant price cuts.
A separate Bloomberg report noted that Ford is accelerating the development of smaller electric vehicles, which are expected to debut in 2026. The first models are expected to be a smaller electric truck and SUV with a starting price of around $25,000.
In the meantime, Ford is following Toyota and other legacy automakers with plans to introduce more hybrids as a bridge to its next-gen EVs.
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Chevron is not seeing signs that the U.S. is close to a recession even as President Donald Trump’s tariffs weigh on expectations for oil demand, CEO Mike Wirth said Tuesday.
“There’s no signs that we see at this point that we are in or close to a recession,” Wirth told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “There are signs that growth may be slowing and we have to always be prepared for that.”
The International Monetary Fund on Monday cut its growth outlook for the U.S. this year to 1.8%, down from 2.7% previously.
The oil market is expecting reduced demand as a consequence of Trump’s tariffs and the decision by OPEC+ increase production faster than expected, Wirth said. Chevron isn’t changing its capital spending plans in response to drop in prices, the CEO said.
U.S. crude oil prices have fallen about 11% since Trump announced his tariffs on April 2. West Texas Intermediate was last up about 72 cents at $63.80 per barrel. OPEC and the International Energy Agency have cut their demand outlooks for this year.
Wirth said U.S. onshore oil production in patches like the Permian Basin is likely to pull back if prices hit $60 per barrel. Offshore production likely won’t be affected, he said.
“That’s an area where if we were to be at a $60 price or even lower you’re likely to see activity pull back in this sector and you’ll see the production response over a few months,” Wirth said. “That’s what we should watch, not so much the deep water activity.”
Chevron is not expecting a major direct impact on its business from Trump’s tariffs as energy has largely been exempt from the levies, Wirth said.
“The effects that we feel are likely to be more the macroeconomic effects as they flow through the economy,” Wirth said. “The bigger issues would be what would it mean for growth, and global trade and how does that evolve.”
Executives at oil and gas companies were scathing in their criticism of Trump’s tariffs in an anonymous March survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, warning that steel tariffs were raising their costs and low prices could impact their activity.
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Little is known about super-secretive EV startup Slate, but the fledgling brand is rumored to be backed by Jeff Bezos and determined to shake up the existing electric order with an affordable lineup of compact SUVs and pickups with that golden $25,000 price tag.
Now, at least, we know what it’s gonna look like. The battle of the billionaires is on!
Redditor jonjopop over at the spotted subreddit spotted what looks like an early prototype of an unbranded SUV with bizarre “CryShare” wrap. CryShare, as a concept, seems to combine the functionality of a ride sharing app like Uber or Lyft with the familiar (to parent, anyway) idea that small babies will often sleep better in a moving car than in their own cribs … but that’s not what’s important here.
Instead, focus on the vehicle itself – parked on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Los Angeles without explanation or fanfare, this is our best look yet at the kind of vehicle(s) Slate is likely to reveal in the coming days.
Stumbled upon the Bezosmobile [Slate Automotive…idk?] being revealed with an absolutely bizarre marketing campaign
byu/jonjopop inspotted
Other local automotive journalists caught wind of the public unveiling, too – and our friends at The Autopian (Hi, Matt!) sent their own David Tracy out on the streets of LA to check it out. Tracy took the following video and posted it to Instagram.
The Slate breaking cover and causing buzz just ahead of what’s sure to be a painful Q1 earnings call for Tesla is a masterstroke of marketing – especially as doubts surrounding the viability of a “less expensive” Tesla Model Y or Model 3 continue to mount amid the uncertainty of Trump’s tariffs and declining sales of the brand’s more profitable models both at home and abroad.
As with so much involving Slate, however, there is nothing here written in stone – or even cast in cheese. Nothing has been announced, nothing is promised, and for all we know this might have more to do with the affordable Rivian brand launch, a new BYD, or be a viral marketing bit from some local Art Center design student in (relatively) nearby Pasadena. In fact, about the only thing I think we can say about Bezos (?) new Slate project with confidence today is this: Elon could probably use that drink.
SOURCES | IMAGES: Reddit, The Autopian.
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