Few may remember this, but the Tesla Model 3 was supposed to be called Tesla Model E. This is why Elon Musk made fun of people talking about a Model 2: it was never supposed to be called that way. Ford had the trademark for Model E, and it did not allow Tesla to have it. Now we know why: that’s the name Ford chose for its new electric car division.
The rumors about Ford having a separate EV business were wrong in the sense that it will not be separately negotiated in stock markets. Both divisions will remain under Ford, even if they are conducted as different businesses within the company’s organization. In other words, Ford will now have six business divisions: Ford Blue, Ford Model e, Ford Drive (for autonomous vehicles), Ford Pro, Ford Credit, and Lincoln. The automaker is calling this the Ford+ Plan.
Ironically, the Model e will count on a man that has been instrumental to Tesla and, more recently, Apple. Doug Field will be the chief EV and digital systems officer. He's also known as the man who made the Model 3 possible – another incredible irony for those who enjoy them. If they ever create an acronym based on his new job position, such as CEO or CFO, it would be CEVDSO or CEDSO. We’ll probably hear about Field with the full description. Jim Farley will be the Model e president, but it is clear that Field will run the show and report to Farley.
The former Tesla executive is in charge of creating new electric cars and also new software. By separating the two businesses, Ford wants to create synergies between them. In a press conference, Farley said that spinning the divisions off would make them “so wildly independent” that they would do the same thing twice. The executive noted that Ford has “world-class” expertise that EV startups would die for, hence keeping the businesses under the same umbrella and deeply connected.
That means that the systems Field and his team create will also be used with the combustion-engined vehicles from the Ford Blue division. Ford Blue’s contribution to Model e will consist of “world-class hardware engineering and manufacturing capabilities.” In other words, Model e conceives its EVs, and Ford Blue builds them with the software the EV division develops. And it makes a lot of sense.
The expertise Ford developed as the first company to adopt mass-production for cas dates from more than one hundred years already. Although some elements can still be perfected, not all EV startups count on that knowledge or the structure to carry it on already in place. If the idea works, Volkswagen, Toyota, and many others may soon follow Ford’s idea. Should anything go wrong for combustion engines and the rules that still have not forbidden them, spinning off a business division that is already wired to work independently is a lot easier than doing that from scratch.
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