Ford’s electric vehicle sales continue surging in May despite shifting EV plans
Despite a recent pullback on its electric vehicle strategy amid “slower-than-expected” demand, Ford’s EV sales continued surging in May. All Ford electric models, including the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E, saw double-digit sales growth last month.
Ford’s EV sales grow 65% in May 2024
Although Ford is the number two EV maker in the US (not including combined Hyundai/Kia sales), the automaker is “letting up on the gas” with plans to introduce more hybrids.
However, electric vehicle sales continue to soar. Ford’s EV sales climbed 64.7% in May, with 8,966 models sold. The Mustang Mach-E was the top-selling EV, with 4,255 models sold, up 46% from May 2023. Ford F-150 Lightning sales were also up 91% YOY, with 3,260 models sold.
Meanwhile, Ford’s electric commercial van, the E-Transit, continues to see higher demand. Another 1,450 electric vans were sold, up 77% from last year.
The EV sales growth in May was enough to outpace Ford’s hybrid (+64.5%) and internal combustion (ICE) sales (+5.6%).
Ford sold over 37,200 electric vehicles through the first five months of the year, nearly double (+87.8%) the 19,809 EVs sold at this time last year.
Mustang Mach-E sales are up 89%, with 18,737 models sold through May. Ford has sold 13,093 F-150 Lightning models so far this year, up 78.5%. Meanwhile, E-Transit sales are quietly picking up, with 5,478 models sold YTD, up 111% over last year.
The growth comes after Ford slashed EV prices earlier this year, citing “slower-than-expected” demand with plans to lean more into hybrids.
|
2024 Ford F-150 Lightning trim |
Initial Starting Price | New Starting Price | Difference | Range (EPA-est miles) |
| XLT | $64,995 | $62,995 | -$2,000 | 240 |
| Flash | $73,495 | $67,995 | -$5,500 | 320 |
| Lariat | $79,495 | $76,995 | -$2,500 | 320 |
| Platinum | $84,995 | $84,995 | 0 | 300 |
| Platinum Black | $92,995 | $92,995 | 0 | 300 |
Ford opened orders for the 2024 F-150 Lightning in April, adding a new “Flash” trim. With an extended-range battery, tech-loaded interior, and several other features pulled from popular trims, Ford believes the new model hits the “sweet spot.”
In other news, Ford’s first all-electric Explorer rolled off the production line at its Cologne EV plant in Europe Tuesday.
Ford said a new sports EV crossover will debut soon (for Europe), with production planned to start later this year.
Electrek’s Take
Despite the strong performance, Ford is delaying around $12 billion in EV investments. It’s also planning to invest more in hybrid tech, following in Toyota’s footsteps.
Meanwhile, rivals like Hyundai and Kia are pushing full steam ahead toward an electric future. Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 set a new monthly sales record in May, while Kia’s three-row EV9 is gaining momentum in the US.
Hyundai expects the momentum to continue with the start of production at its first EV and battery plant in the US, which is planned for later this year.
In an exclusive interview with Electrek, Hyundai America CEO Randy Parker said the automaker is “humble and hungry” to separate itself from its EV rivals.
With Hyundai’s first three-row electric SUV, the IONIQ 9, due out soon, can Hyundai top Ford in US electric vehicle sales? Or will Ford keep the ball rolling despite recent plans to pull back on EV initiatives? Drop us a comment to let us know your thoughts.
If you’re in the market for a new EV, Ford is offering some of the lowest prices yet on popular models. You can use our links below to view deals on Ford EV models at a dealer near you.
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Elon wants the US military to start buying Tesla Cybertrucks – and now they are! The Air Force has ordered two Cybertruck testers for target practice to determine how easy they are to blow up, while Jo makes up a whole new conspiracy theory on today’s explosive episode of Quick Charge!
Today’s episode is brought to you by retrospec—makers of sleek, powerful e-bikes and outdoor gear built for everyday adventure. Electrek listeners can get 10% off their next ride until August 14 with the exclusive code ELECTREK10 only at retrospec.com.
An it doesn’t stop there. We’ve also got exciting new home battery backup and V2X options for Tesla owners, and one Texas EV driver that decided to conquer the Texas floodwaters by harnessing the awesome combined powers of electrons and stupidity (it’s pretty awesome).
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Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer project is reportedly over. Bloomberg reports that CEO Elon Musk is killing the project after a mass exodus of talent from the Dojo team to a competing startup.
Dojo was the name of Tesla’s in-house AI chip development to create supercomputers to train its AI models for self-driving.
Tesla hired a bunch of top chip architects and tried to develop better AI accelerator chips to rely less on companies like NVIDIA, AMD, and others.
It has been running into delays for years.
We previously reported on significant setbacks. In 2018, Jim Keller, the famed chip architect who was first hired to lead Tesla’s chip-making effort, left the company.
Ganesh Venkataramanan succeeded him, but he left Tesla in 2023.
For the last few years, Peter Bannon, who worked with Keller for years, has been leading Tesla’s chip-making programs, but he is now reportedly also leaving the automaker.
Bloomberg reports that Musk has “ordered the effort to be shut down.”:
Peter Bannon, who was heading up Dojo, is leaving and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has ordered the effort to be shut down, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. The team has lost about 20 workers recently to newly formed DensityAI, and remaining Dojo workers are being reassigned to other data center and compute projects within Tesla, the people said.
DensityAI is a new startup currently in stealth mode, founded by several former Tesla employees, including Venkataramanan.
It reportedly plans to build chips for AI data centers and robots, much like the Dojo program.
The company recently hired 20 former Tesla employees who worked on Dojo.
While the program appeared to be lagging behind for years as Tesla increasingly bought more compute power from NVIDIA, Musk has been claiming progress.
The CEO said in June:
Tesla Dojo AI training computer making progress. We start bringing Dojo 2 online later this year. It takes three major iterations for a new technology to be great. Dojo 2 is good, but Dojo 3 will be great.
During Tesla’s quarterly conference call in late July, the CEO claimed that Dojo 2 will be “operating at scale sometime next year.”
Electrek’s Take
It’s unclear whether the report is accurate or if it’s an extrapolation from the talent exodus to Elon killing Dojo, or if Elon was lying just a few weeks ago.
Alternatively, this development may be so recent that Elon went from being confident in Dojo a few weeks ago to disbanding the team working on it now.
Either way, I think it’s clear that the project has been lagging, and Tesla has been extremely dependent on chip suppliers rather than making its own.
I think Dojo being likely dead is not a big loss for Tesla.
When it comes to chip making, developing its own inference compute for onboard “AI computers” was always the more important project.
TSMC is set to produce Tesla’s new AI5 chip, which is coming soon, and we have recently learned that Samsung will be manufacturing its AI6 chip.
I think the bigger concern from this report is that it’s the latest example of an ongoing exodus of talent at Tesla.
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Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Twitter Inc. and Square Inc., listens during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, on Friday, June 4, 2021.
Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Block shares jumped in extended trading on Thursday after the fintech company increased its forecast for the year.
Here is how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG.
- Earnings per share: 62 cents adjusted vs. 69 cents expected
Block doesn’t report a revenue figure, but said gross profit rose 14% from a year earlier to $2.54 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.46 billion for the quarter. Gross payment volume increased 10% to $64.25 billion.
Block raised its guidance for full-year gross profit to $10.17 billion, representing 14% growth from a year earlier. In its prior earnings report, Block said gross profit for the year would come in at $9.96 billion.
The company expects full-year adjusted operating income of $2.03 billion, or a 20% margin. For the third quarter, the company expects gross profit to grow 16% from a year ago to $2.6 billion, with an operating margin of 18%.
Square payment volume in the quarter grew 10% from a year earlier.
Block faces growing competition from rivals such as Toast and Fiserv‘s Clover, though its Square business still gained share during the quarter in areas such as retail and food and beverage.
Block shares were down 10% this year as of Thursday’s close, while the Nasdaq is up 10%. Last month, Block was added to the S&P 500.
— CNBC’s Robert Hum contributed to this report.
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