In one of his first reports as Ford Motor Company’s new CEO, Mark Fields seems to have trained his sights on Tesla. He told USA Today that the company had the know-how and the resources to build an electric vehicle that can match the Tesla Model S in technology, performance, size, and even range. The automaker currently makes plug-in hybrids and the small Ford Focus EV. Though he didn’t say that they would do it, he hinted that “It’s consistent with our product philosophy.”
This means that they are ready to level up and introduce a model that’s bigger than the Focus EV with a longer range and with a better drive. Developing an EV that matches the Tesla Model S in terms of range and handling are well within the company’s engineering and manufacturing capability, Fields added. In fact they’ve purchased a Tesla. And Fields says, “We drove it. We took it apart. We put it back together and we drove it again.”
A distinct possibility is to introduce it as a Lincoln since Tesla’s are in that price range. An EV version of the MKS is the most comparable to the Boxster. It’s not as far-fetched since Tesla just opened up its patents in June to expedite the roll out of high-performance EVs.
While the idea sounds crazy, the Silicon Valley based auto maker would benefit. The company is planning to put up its battery giga-factory in Nevada riding on a package of incentives that the State is planning to offer. The giga factory is being positioned to dominate the market for the next generation automotive batteries that EVs use.
So will the Model T maker make a Model S? Maybe soon.
