Ford CEO Says Its New EV Tech Is 30% More Efficient Than BYD's

CEO Jim Farley says that its new motors, inverters, and EV gearboxes will maximize efficiency and keep costs down.

Photo by: Ford

By: Kevin Williams

Oct 29, at 5:11pm ET

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Ford has explicitly framed its Universal Electric Vehicle platform as a way to compete with Chinese cars on cost and technology. According to Ford CEO Jim Farley, the company has succeeded in at least one way: efficiency.

"There's another area that we really found to be quite advantaged relative to a BYD. And that is the efficiency of our motors, gearbox and inverters, which are about 30% more efficient than theirs and allows us to design a battery that's much less," Farley said today on the automaker's third-quarter earnings call. "I think that's really critical."

Farley says that's one of the keys to keeping costs down for the UEV platform, which debuts with the $28,350 Fathom pickup. The more efficient motor, gearbox, and drivetrain have allowed Ford to install a smaller battery, which is the biggest single cost in an EV. The company pitches its new platform—which features fewer parts, better efficiency, and overhauled manufacturing process—as a way to make EVs that are far more economically viable than the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning.

Ford hasn’t said exactly what the Fathom’s battery size is, but past reports have estimated somewhere in the 50 to 60 kWh battery range. For a workable range of more than 200 miles, Ford will need to take advantage of every efficiency gain it can and make the most out of its not-so-big battery. It also wasn't clear exactly which BYD powertrain Farley was comparing Ford's to.

It makes sense that Ford is targeting BYD in particular. China's biggest automaker surpassed the Blue Oval in global sales last year, and much of its success comes from deep vertical integration. It looks like Ford is taking that lesson to heart, bringing more of its own supply chain in-house and developing the UEV architecture from the ground up.

Ford is taking notes from other Chinese manufacturers too. Earlier in the call, Ford executives explained what it’s learning from its partnership with Geely in Europe: how to make cars more cheaply, and speed up product development.

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And Ford says the learnings from UEV, Geely, and Ford's Chinese partner Jiangling Motor Corporation (JMC) aren't just going into its future EVs. Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s Chief Operating Officer, said that the company's hybrids will benefit from the same efficiency gains realized in the UEV platform.

"Ee're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to make sure that whether it's UEV or Geely or JMC or AI tools, we are going to move that into the core part of the company as fast as we can," Farley added.