From Guest Blogger Jordan: Ford Could Make a Car Like Tesla’s Model S, According to CEO

With the Tesla Model S selling quite well lately, and with Tesla reporting profits quarter after quarter, it was only a matter of time before other car makers take a page from Elon Musk’s book and start thinking about designing a car that will look like the luxury sedan that is one of the most in-demand models in the EV market at the moment. One of Detroit’s “Big Three” – Ford Motor Company – might be the first company to try and build a Tesla-like car, with CEO Mark Fields saying that they have the technology and the expertise that is needed to make a car with performance characteristics similar to those of the Model S.

Ford’s CEO was talking to Wall Street analysts about his company’s third-quarter earnings report when he said this, stating that they have the engineering and manufacturing ability to design an electric car that will be able to compete with Tesla’s vehicles in terms of range and performances. Currently, Ford only sells one all-electric model – an electric version of the Focus compact car, in addition to a few plug-in hybrids. But, the Focus Electric has not been selling exceptionally well, which is why the company recently cut the manufacturer’s suggested retail price by $6,000, in an effort to boost sales.

Ford obviously doesn’t intend to copy the Model S, at least as far as design is concerned, and according to many industry observers, a slightly smaller, more compact vehicle might be in the works, that will be faster than the only electric vehicle Ford makes currently, and will have a far better range. A while ago, Ford bought a Model S to give its engineers the chance to get familiar with the technology involved in it, and Fields said that they have driven it, taken it apart, and put it back together, which surely helped them understand at least some of the factors behind the 260-mile range of Tesla’s car.

In addition to the plans to build a high-performance all-electric car that will compete with the Model S, Ford is working on fast-charging solutions, as well. The American car maker supports the Combined Charging System (CCS) standard, which integrates one-phase AC-charging, fast three-phase AC-charging, DC-charging and ultra-fast DC-charging at public stations, but at the moment, only the BMW i3 and the Chevrolet Spark EV are equipped with CCS inlets, and Ford will probably install such inlets in the new electric vehicle its CEO hinted at. Ford wants the Tesla-like car – which some say that could be expected to hit the market in about 5 years – to be able to recharge nearly as fast as the Model S, whose battery can be charged to 80 percent capacity in less than 30 minutes, using a Tesla Supercharger Station.

Even if Ford doesn’t realize its plans to bring such a long-range, fast-charging EV similar to the Model S to the market soon, it’s clear that Tesla’s success story in the EV market is already starting to make an impact on other car makers, which should help accelerate the adoption of EVs and make them a more viable alternative to gasoline-powered cars than they are today.