Ford Killing Three Gas Models, Spending Billions More On Electric Vehicles

Ford's electric division is expected to lose $4.5 billion more this year than previously expected, but the automaker is still dead set on making EVs work for it

The Escape, Edge, and Transit Connect are all facing the chopping block as Ford forges ahead with electric vehicle plans that will cost it more than expected. The automaker is looking ahead to a new generation of high margin EVs that is just over the horizon.

Ford admitted that its electric vehicle business is set to lose $4.5 billion more than it previously expected in 2023. In addition, its production plans for EVs are also being moved back. Although it still intends to build 400,000 EVs per year in the near future, it no longer believes it will be able to reach that mark in 2024, as initially promised. That means that its goal of making 2 million EVs per year by 2026 is also being reexamined.

However, Ford still believes that its second-generation EV platform will reduce complexity and costs enough to make EVs with eight percent margin by 2026, reports Autonews. The platform will underpin a full-size pickup that will be built in Tennessee, and a three-row SUV that will be built in Oakville, Canada.

Read: Ford Teases Three-Row Electric SUV That Aims To Be Your “Personal Bullet Train”

Those high-margin EVs will reduce the automaker’s reliance on internal combustion vehicles, which are currently being leaned on to offset the losses generated by its electric vehicle department. However, some longtime products are already expected to go the way of the dodo. They are the Escape, the Edge and the Transit Connect.

The Edge is being discontinued next year to allow Ford to retool its Oakville plant as it prepares for its next-generation electric three-row SUV. Similarly, the Transit Connect will not return to the U.S. in 2024, though it will stay in European showrooms. However, the Ford Transit is preparing to enter the market and the E-Transit will get a 48 percent range boost in the coming years.

As for the Escape, there is no specific date of execution. While the model was refreshed this year, indicating that it will be produced for a few more years, there are no plans for a next-generation model. In addition to EVs, Ford CEO Jim Farley recently said that the automaker plans to quadruple sales of its hybrid models following the success of the electrified Maverick and F-150.