Ford CEO Jim Farley launched into an EV street journey in an F-150 Lightning pickup truck to realize perception into the experiences of Ford’s EV prospects.

Farley and his celebration set off this week from Silicon Valley, driving south to Los Angeles after which west to Las Vegas, traversing components of the long-lasting Route 66 alongside the way in which, the Ford CEO wrote in a LinkedIn put up. Among the many deliberate stops will probably be a charging station that Farley says prompted Ford’s deal to undertake the Tesla cost port, referred to as the North American Charging Commonplace (NACS), for future EVs.

2023 Ford F-150 Lightning

Alongside the way in which, Farley plans to go to “researchers, companies, sellers, salespeople, EV conversion outlets, EV drivers, and communities” and use the identical roads and charging infrastructure as odd EV drivers, as a way to study concerning the real-world expertise of EV use. Farley famous that earlier in his profession at Toyota, he utilized insights from one other street journey to bettering the automaker’s bread-and-butter Camry midsize sedan.

“Listening is how we study,” Farley mentioned, “and that is what we’ll be doing from the street.”

Ford F-150 Lightning at Tesla Supercharger

Farley could already concentrate on one of many greatest points within the present EV local weather. In a dialogue of Ford’s quarterly earnings report final week, he confirmed the automaker is reducing its 2023 EV manufacturing targets. Farley pointed to price as the primary motive, saying that greater than 30% of shoppers intend to purchase an EV, however that top buy costs are holding many potential prospects again. He beforehand pointed to the beginning of an EV worth warfare earlier this yr.

The F-150 Lightning has received the approval of truck patrons and media—in a primary drive we discovered it to be nothing wanting revolutionary—nevertheless it’s additionally a poster baby for EV worth inflation. Whereas Ford in July lowered the worth of the Lightning by $9,979 on the bottom Professional mannequin, it had beforehand raised costs 4 instances because the truck’s launch in April 2022. Even with the worth lower, the present base worth of $51,990 (together with a $1,995 vacation spot cost) continues to be 25% increased than the $41,669 base worth from the time of its introduction.