"Speaking on an upcoming episode of "Office Hours: Business Edition," Jim Farley said the "shocking" realization of how far ahead Elon Musk's automaker and China's EV upstarts were pushed him to overhaul the company. 'I was very humbled when we took apart the first Model 3 Tesla and started to take apart the Chinese vehicles. When we took them apart, it was shocking what we found,' Farley told host Monica Langley."
"The Detroit executive said Ford's Mustang Mach-E had around 1.6km more electrical wiring than the Tesla, adding extra weight to the car and requiring a much bigger and more expensive battery. Taking apart rival vehicles is a common practice in the automotive industry. The CEO of smartphone-maker-turned-EV-upstart Xiaomi revealed in September that his team bought three Tesla Model Ys and ripped them apart to study every component. Farley, who has led Ford since 2020, said the teardowns convinced him the company had to change to match its new rivals."
"In 2022, Farley spun out Ford's EV operations into a new division called Model E. The division lost more than $5 billion in 2024 and is projected to face a similar hit this year, but Farley said he doesn't regret the move. 'I knew it was going to be brutal business-wise,' he said on the podcast, adding that he thought it was important for Ford's EV operations to be accountable to investors. 'My ethos is, take on the hardest problems as fast as you can and do it sometimes in public because you'll solve them quicker that way,' Farley said."
Teardowns of Tesla and multiple Chinese electric vehicles revealed clear engineering and efficiency advantages over existing Ford EV designs. The Mustang Mach-E used roughly 1.6 km more electrical wiring than the Tesla, increasing weight and requiring a larger, more expensive battery. Ford reorganized EV work into a Model E division in 2022; that unit posted losses exceeding $5 billion in 2024 and faces similar projected losses. The reorganization was intended to improve investor accountability and speed problem-solving. The rapid advancement of Chinese EV makers and Tesla prompted a company-wide overhaul and renewed commitment to EV competitiveness.
Read at Business Insider
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