Updates
April 16, 2026: how bad is it? Link here. Ford's EV program will be buried.
Doug Field, the high-profile executive who shaped Ford’s electric vehicle (EV) and technology strategies over the past five years, is leaving the automaker. Field’s departure was announced Wednesday as part of a broader reorganization of the company’s leadership.
He was among the key leaders when the automaker split its business into three units: the EV and digital services division, the traditional internal combustion engine business, and the commercial vehicles unit. He was behind Ford’s skunkworks program — a secretive internal team — to build a low-cost electric vehicle.
Under the reorganization laid out Wednesday, Ford has created what it calls a “product creation and industrialization” team to be led by COO Kumar Galhotra.
Ford’s electric vehicle and design team, which Field led, will be folded into this new organization. The team will also oversee Ford’s plan to refresh 80% of its North American portfolio by volume and 70% of its global portfolio by 2029. This will include the Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform, a mid-sized pickup, and the next-generation F-150 and F-Series Super Duty trucks. The UEV platform is what the Ford skunkworks program — now known as the Advanced Development Projects team — developed.
Alan Clarke, a former Tesla executive who has led that skunkworks program, is now vice president of Advanced Development Projects.
April 16, 2026: one in five Cybertrucks are being sold to another Elon Musk company. Had Tesla not done that, Cybertruck sales would have been down 51% for 4Q25. SpaceX, alone, picked up 18% of Tesla's Cybertrucks. Link here.
Original Post
Tesla: link here. How bad is it? Sales of Teslas sank in the US, and Tesla still gained market share. Even I can do the math on that.
BYD: they never mention the price, and it's subsidized by the Chinese government. Link here. It costs more than the Porsche Taycan. The BYD starts at $135,000. Starts at.
Mercedes: link here. How are they marketing this deluxe Mercedes? It has heated seat belts. I can't make this stuff up. Price is not mentioned in this article. Con razón. At local dealer: $247,850.
Ford CEO Farley famously drives a Chinese EV. He desperately doesn't want ohter Americans buying Chinese EVs. He and his son drove a Ford Lightning out to California: reports that it was hell trying to find charging stations. I can't make this up.
The tiny Cupra Raval: link here. And look at this, tiny of the tiniest is now 10 mm wider. I can't make this up. You have to scroll through a gazillion photos to the very last paragraph to get that tidbit. It also sits 15 mm lower to the ground. Are you kidding me. Fifteen mm lower to the ground! It almost makes me want to go out and buy one. Not!
