By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing – Ford Motor (NYSE:F) shares rose 7.5% Wednesday after the carmaker said 40% of its global output would be all-electric by 2030.
At its Delivering Ford+’ Capital Markets Day to showcase its plans for EVs, the company had something for everybody.
It said its vehicles will incorporate digital lifestyles by fully integrating best-in-class technology from the likes of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU).
Ford aims to have about 1 million vehicles that are capable of receiving over-the-air system updates on the road by the end of this year and to exceed Tesla’s volume by July 2022.It has also raised planned electrification spending to $30+ billion by 2025, including development of IonBoost batteries.
The Ford management also talked about its plans to cater to both individual and corporate buyers by aiming to lead the electrification revolution including making investments in battery technologies.
The company has been making all efforts to get deeper into the EV market. Last week, it aggressively priced its latest electric truck, F-150 Lightning. The base model will cost $40,000, making it 20% more affordable than the next cheapest truck, the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Cybertruck. Rivals like the Rivian R1T and the Hummer EV cost a lot more.
The F-150 Lightning will be one of the mainstays of Ford’s EV play. In just a week of bookings starting, the electric pickup truck has garnered 70,000 reservations.
Again last week, Ford and South Korea’s SK Innovation signed an initial pact to create a joint venture, BlueOvalSK, to produce approximately 60 GWh annually in traction battery cells and array modules, starting mid-decade, with potential to expand.
Ford is also putting in more equity in Solid Power, a producer of all-solid-state batteries for EVs. Solid-state batteries are showing great promise. They don’t use the liquid electrolyte found in conventional lithium-ion batteries, can be lighter, with greater energy density and provide more range and lower cost.