President Trump is guaranteed to be unhappy with this announcement: Ford Now Plans to Move Production of Electric SUVs From Michigan to Mexico.
The SUV to be built in Mexico starting in 2020 will go 300 miles on a single charge and is the centerpiece of a planned $4.5 billion overhaul of Ford’s lineup to add 13 electric or hybrid models. Ford has been viewed by Wall Street as playing catch-up to rivals such as Tesla Inc. and General Motors Co., which already sells the battery-powered Chevy Bolt and plans to introduce robot taxis in 2019.
Moving production of the as-yet-unnamed electric SUV to Mexico will allow the carmaker to boost production of self-driving vehicles at its factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, according to its plans revealed late Wednesday.
Self-Driving Test 2018
In related news, Ford to Test New Self-Driving Vehicle Technology in 2018.
The automaker said on Thursday that it would test self-driving prototypes in various pilot programs with partners such as Lyft, the ride services company in which rival General Motors Co. owns a minority stake, and Domino’s Pizza Inc. However, Ford has still not decided whether to operate its own on-demand transportation service.
Ford vs GM
Last week I noted GM to Have Robotaxi Service by 2019.
Competition in the self-driving space is heating up.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
I always find myself nodding along and agreeing with your wise words Your insights and advice are truly valuable
I appreciate how this blog promotes self-growth and personal development It’s important to continuously strive to become the best version of ourselves
I always look forward to reading your posts, they never fail to brighten my day and educate me in some way Thank you!
This blog post is worth the read – trust us!
Our gov. is mandating to turn the entire US fleet of cars over to electric it will take years. I can see the difficulty self driving cars are going to have competing with 80 per hour commuters. The Red Barchetta will become a reality
Electric and self driving are two separate things. Electric is here and will continue to grow. Self driving is at least 5 years away. There’s been a lot of progress and I would say they’re 90% there, but the last 10% will take a very very long time.
@missionaccomplished https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/09/waymo-teams-with-madd-the-nsc-and-more-on-self-driving-education/
I’ve given up all hope on Trump. I don’t expect him to say a word about Ford moving production to Mexico. I don’t expect him to build a wall. I don’t expect him to crush ISIS and bring the troops home. I do expect Trump to implement the standard conservative swamp pablum: tax cuts, jacked up military spending, jacked up debt, and killing lots of people in the Middle East. Renaming him Barack Hillary Trump.
Important But Topic Off ,Sorry
– Gov Poland Censored Youtubehttps://youtu.be/2MDVoZZUVxI
Meh, I’ll believe it when they start partnering with Diageo and MADD and all the other alcohol related organizations.
What do I think?
The GM Cruise car stopped several times – for no legitimate reason – during a 15 minute 2.2 mile drive and they gave up altogether after it stopped behind a taco truck. The very GM car they say will be a robo taxi by 2019 . 2.2 miles stopped several times. They could not get the car to drive 3 miles on a clear and sunny day.
“Looking for a clear path” screens facing the driver and passengers read several times during the trip, when the car stopped next to some traffic cones or behind double-parked vehicles. After pauses, it restarted and passed the obstacles by itself.
A taco truck was too much, though. “
Self-driving cars just around the corner. Guaranteed to improve traffic efficiency by orders of magnitude and reduce traffic deaths to near-zero. Really exciting stuff. Can’t wait for 2019.
Mexico is warmer than Detroit. Allowing Ford to, with a straight face and legal cover, claim a higher unrealistic number of miles per battery charge….
GM to have a robo taxi service in 2019 – what a joke ! will never happen in my City where trucks are double parked everywhere and jaywalkers is the norm, you have to be a very aggressive driver to make a right turn with all the jaywalkers, it is funny to imagine this GM vehicle stopping several times, it will block traffic and no one will have the patience for it
not if it is fully autonomous the electricity needed for the computer and radar and lidar sensors is contradictory to the autonomous vehicle. So which way will you go ? Again an VC joke every time they discuss the self driving cars, amazing how many people fall for it.
The SUV to be built in Mexico starting in 2020 will go 300 miles on a single charge
15 minutes did 2.2 miles never going more than 20 miles an hour it is a Venture Capital joke on the investors, they are raising billions and have little to show. They are in fact going bankrupt ( Uber ) losing billions with no revenue stream.
These vehicles are simply in their infancy with many years trial and error to come.
During a roughly 15-minute ride in a busy area of San Francisco over a 2.2 mile (3.5km) trip,
The car, never moving more than 20 miles per hour
The Bolt reacted more conservatively than a human driver, for example slowing to a near stop after sensing a bike approaching in the opposite lane.
“Looking for a clear path” screens facing the driver and passengers read several times during the trip, when the car stopped next to some traffic cones or behind double-parked vehicles. After pauses, it restarted and passed the obstacles by itself.
A taco truck was too much, though. The Bolt’s human backup driver disengaged the system and took the wheel after the car waited for more than a minute behind the truck where construction workers ordered lunch.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-selfdriving-cruise/taco-truck-halts-gm-autonomous-cars-cruise-through-city-streets-idUSKBN1DT1SO