Elon Musk Calls Ford's EV Strategy 'Smart'

Ford this week said Model e lost $722 million during the first quarter.

Ford is heavily pushing a shift toward electric vehicles and Model e, the company’s EV business unit, is feeling the pressure.

Ford this week said Model e lost $722 million during the first quarter. The company still expects full-year losses for the segment to total $3 billion.

The losses are resulting in EV margins hovering around -40% and the company only expects those figures to improve to -20% in the second half of the year.

But the automaker is getting some encouragement from a rival. Tesla CEO Elon Musk sympathized with Ford and praised the company’s long-term plans for EVs.

On Twitter, Musk noted how margins are often stressed for new vehicle lines and praised Ford’s overall EV strategy as “smart.”

Musk also pointed out the high-demand for the Ford F-150 Lightning, one of the first full-size electric trucks to hit the U.S. market.

Ford’s EV shipments have been impacted by some early issues but the company still expects to be selling EVs at a global run rate of 600,000 units by the end of the year.

Tesla holds a commanding share of the EV market in the U.S. but automakers like Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai are making progress.


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