Nissan has its Leaf about to come out. Chevrolet, its Volt on the test track and almost ready to roll. And then there's all those other companies, like Tesla, that have had electric cars out for months already, if not years.And then there's Ford, the last one to the party - if they get there at all.
Ford has announced that it has 5 battery powered vehicles "in the pipeline" but it only offers a hybrid gas saver for now. And the pipeline? Well that'll be two years from now, maybe. They're calling it a "slower entry" into the market. Yeah, that's like the speed that they implemented air bags too.
Our bet is that none of what Ford is saying is reality. More likely, it's "blue sky" hopes and wishes that all depend on just how well its competitors do to crack the market open in the first place. If their cars don't generate good market demand, you can likely see Ford's electric powered vehicle designs sitting on a shelf somewhere in two years.
But for now, Ford doesn't want the others to get all the press so they talk up their long-term plans that are so long term they don't have to be reality if the suits behind the blue oval change their mind.
Now that's real commitment, folks. It's also a good explanation for how we got so many Prius cars on the road too.