Ford’s EV losses reached a record last year.
Photographer: Jennifer Emerling/BloombergInside Ford’s Money-Guzzling EV Crisis
The automaker has a plan to catch up to rivals rolling out high-performing, affordable electric vehicles. But first, it has to endure Trump tariff threats and its own version of EV hell.
Just a year ago, Jesse Acosta fell in love with the smoothness and speed of his new Ford F-150 Lightning, an electric version of Ford’s best-selling truck. Now, he wants to get rid of it.
The Lightning’s stated range is 230 miles (370 kilometers), but reality never seems to reflect the conditions necessary to achieve that. As soon as he starts climbing through the mountains on the 130-mile trip from Fresno to his parents’ place in Capitola, the load on the battery depletes the range until it’s down to 40 miles of power. Though he’s never been stranded, the fear of running out of juice spoils every trip. “I’ve had it for a year and the one thing you can’t discount is just how nerve-racking it is,” Acosta, 41, said.