Ford is doubling down on lower-cost electric vehicles for the future. That could now include its luxury Lincoln brand. According to Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, an affordable Lincoln EV “would make sense,” but there’s more to it.
Is Ford launching an affordable Lincoln EV?
Earlier this month, Farley introduced the new Ford EV Universal Platform, which will power its upcoming lineup of more affordable electric cars.
Farley said during the event (see our recap) at Ford’s plant in Kentucky that the Company took “a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable electric vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters.”
Does that include the luxury Lincoln brand? According to Farley’s latest comments, it could actually be a possibility.
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During an exclusive interview with Hagerty, Ford’s CEO said, “an affordable EV Lincoln” would make sense. Farley explained that although electric vehicles offer a superior driving experience with a nearly silent ride, the brand isn’t ready to commit to electrification fully.
CEO Jim Farley presents the Ford Universal EV Platform in Kentucky (Source: Ford)
“The team really pushed me to have an all-electric lineup, and I refused to do it,” Farley said. Instead, he sees Lincoln’s future lineup with traditional gas-powered models, hybrids, and extended-range EVs, or EREVs.
“EREV would be a perfect drivetrain for us. All-hybrid and EREV lineup, and maybe a few electric cars, but more on the affordable side,” Farley explained.
Lincoln Nautilus (Source: Lincoln)
An affordable hybrid isn’t likely, “but an affordable EV Lincoln,” Farley added, “with over-the-top color choice and over-the-top interior customization would make sense.”
Electrek’s Take
An affordable EV with “over-the-top” customization sounds like it could be pricier than what you’d expect. Lincoln has yet to launch an all-electric vehicle, while new luxury EV brands, such as Lucid and Rivian, are ramping up their output.
Ford already cancelled its three-row electric SUV, opening the door for Hyundai, Kia, and others to take advantage with the IONIQ 9 and EV9.
An affordable Lincoln EV could challenge the upcoming midsize models from Lucid and Rivian, which promise to be lower-priced but just as advanced, if not more advanced, than its current vehicles.
GM’s Cadillac claims to be the “luxury EV leader” with an electric SUV in nearly every segment. However, they don’t consider Tesla a competitor due to its pricing.
Would you buy an affordable Lincoln EV? Cadillac’s entry-level electric SUV, the 2026 Optiq, starts at just over $50,000, so we could see it arrive in the same price range. Let us know your thoughts below.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (right) and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar enter a hall for their talks at Zinaida Morozova’s Mansion in Moscow on Aug. 21, 2025.
Alexander Zemlianichenko | Afp | Getty Images
India and Russia agreed Thursday to expand bilateral trade ties, signaling that U.S. tariff pressure on New Delhi over Russian oil purchases is unlikely to derail their partnership.
India currently faces additional tariffs of up to 50% on goods shipped to the U.S., after the Trump administration escalated tariff threats in response to its substantial imports of Russian energy.
The India-Russia relations had been among the “steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War,” Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at a joint press conference in Moscow.
Both countries vowed to boost bilateral trade, including increasing India’s exports of pharmaceuticals, agriculture and textiles to Russia to help reduce the current imbalance, Jaishankar said.
Bilateral trade between New Delhi and Moscow reached a record $68.7 billion for the year ended March 2025, with India’s increased oil imports contributing to a $59 billion deficit.
Other plans include sending Indian workers with skills in IT, construction and engineering to help Russia address its labor shortages, Jaishankar added.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector and Russian oil shipments to the Indian market are “making wide strides.” Both sides remain committed to implementing joint energy production projects in the Russian Far East and the Russian Arctic shelf, among other sites, he said.
“This strategic partnership … contributes to regional security and stability, which is undeniably important considering the challenging international circumstances that we are operating under,” Lavrov added.
Western governments have imposed sanctions on Moscow, arguing India’s increased imports helped bankroll Moscow’s war in Ukraine. New Delhi has pushed back, saying the U.S. administration requested the purchases to keep the markets calm, while pointing to the U.S. and European Union’s continued trade with Russia.
Russian embassy officials in New Delhi reportedly said Wednesday that oil shipments to India will continue despite U.S. pressure, adding that Moscow hoped a trilateral meeting with India and China would take place soon.
“Despite the political situation, we can predict that the same level of oil import [by India],” Roman Babushkin, the charge d’affaires at the Russian embassy in India, told a press briefing.
“Russia has been a close strategic partner of India since the 1970s and the Trump administration’s tariff threats are not going to change that,” said Daniel Balazs, a research fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
“On the contrary, it might even act as a catalyst,” Balazs added, prompting New Delhi to agree to a trilateral meeting that Moscow sought to broker with China.
India was the second-largest buyer of Russian oil, importing 1.6 million barrels per day in the first half of this year, up from 50,000 bpd in 2020, though still trailing China’s 2 million bpd imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Washington has not placed secondary tariffs on China for its Russian oil purchases. When asked about China’s role in Russian oil purchases, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that Beijing’s imports were considered to be less egregious because it had already been a major buyer even before Russia invaded Ukraine.
By contrast, Washington has escalated criticism of India in recent days, accusing the nation of profiteering from cheap Russian crude and threatening higher tariffs on Indian goods.
Ceasefire on the line
Trump’s true agenda appears to have little to do with Washington’s stated goal of curbing Moscow’s oil revenues, but extracting leverage from these trading partners, according to several geopolitical experts. These include securing a trade deal with New Delhi while pushing Putin for a ceasefire pact in Ukraine.
Last week, Trump rolled out a red carpet to greet Putin on his first visit to the U.S. in about a decade, sharing a ride with him in the presidential limousine to the venue. The meeting was held in Alaska, which was once a part of Russia.
The meeting did not appear to have produced meaningful steps toward a ceasefire in Ukraine and the Russian government has reiterated its opposition to any short-term ceasefire deal with Ukraine.
Speaking at the joint news briefing Thursday, Lavrov said he had briefed Indian officials on those talks.
“India’s approach continues to emphasize dialogue and diplomacy as essential to resolving differences,” Jaishankar said.
The storm hit. The power’s out. With all the damage around you, it looks like you might be without power for a few days (at least). But you planned for this. You have a home backup battery. What happens now?
If you’re considering a home backup battery, or you already have one and haven’t needed it yet, you might be wondering what you’re supposed to do when the inevitable happens. The good news is: you probably won’t have to do much at all.
Modern home batteries are paired with an automatic transfer switch. That’s a switch, usually installed near your home’s electrical panel, that allows you to go from grid power, to battery, and back. And, because it’s automatic, you don’t have to do anything at all.
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The instant the grid goes down, the automatic transfer switch recognizes the loss of power and automagically disconnects your house from the grid, seamlessly connecting it to your backup battery instead. Your lights stay on, the refrigerator keeps humming, and whatever else you’ve chosen to back up just keeps on keeping on. In some cases, the transition to battery power happens so smoothly that you might not even realize the neighborhood’s lost power, not noticing the neighbors’ dark windows until you step outside.
When the power comes back, that side of the switch gets energized, and it does its thing again, only in reverse – switching you back from battery to grid power and intelligently re-charging the battery in anticipation for the next blackout.
How long will my battery last?
13.5 kWh Powerwall battery; via Tesla.
Unfortunately, this is one of those questions that doesn’t have an easy answer. In the simplest terms, if you have a small battery and try to keep the AC running, you might run out of juice in a few hours. On the other hand, if you have great big battery and save its electrons for just the barest essentials (a few lights, a laptop, and a phone or radio, for example) you might never run out of power.
To put some numbers to that, a 31 cu. ft. Samsung RF32CG5400SRAA stainless steel refrigerator is rated at 785 kWh/year. That works out to about 2.15 kWh/day. Factor in 20-40% higher energy needs for warmer temperatures, a few daily door openings, defrost cycles, inverter losses, etc. and you’re looking at 18-22 kWh of usable battery capacity to keep that thing running for a full week on battery power. Now do that same math for every appliance you deem a “must have,” then do the “nice to haves,” and on down the line.
What you need to do, in other words, is talk to the experts. Let them know what appliances you need to keep running, how long you want to prepare for, and let them do the math to help determine which battery solution is right for you.
I’ve included a video that covers the process of picking a solar battery from EnergySage (a trusted affiliate partner), below, and invite you to share some of your own backup battery-picking experiences in the comments.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Just days after Chevrolet beat the mighty Ford Mustang GTD’s Nürburgring track record with their Corvette ZR1 and ZR1X, Ford went back to the ‘Ring to reclaim some glory. They didn’t bring a Mustang along, though – they showed up with an electric van, and record-setting hot shoe Romain Dumas behind the wheel.
* it’s not your typical van. It’s a SuperVan.
Ford took back a fair bit of Chevy’s headline-grabbing glory this week when LeMans-winning driver Romain Dumas lapped the 12.9 mile Green Hell in just 6 minutes and 48.393 seconds – a blazing performance that makes the 2000 hp Ford SuperVan 4.2 the ninth fastest car to ever blast around the storied German racetrack.
Dumas is no stranger to the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife. He was first overall at the 2007 24 hour race there. He also holds the outright Nürburgring track record for EVs, which he set back in 2019 behind the wheel of the Volkswagen ID.R, completing the circuit in 6 minutes and 05.336 driving the Volkswagen ID.R.
Take my advice, GM: it’s time to drag Warren Mosler back home from the Virgin Islands, figure out where Rod Trenne’s hiding, and get them to build you a proper, 900 kg electric ‘Vette. Y’all let me know if you need help setting that up.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.