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Just last week, I reported on Ford’s first quarter earnings which were brisk and encouraging. Ford had their best retail quarter in two decades and announced that sales of the Mustang Mach-E and Ford Bronco Sport were coming from other brands not affiliated with Ford.
That’s surely good news. Likely the Mach-E sales are coming from Tesla and the Bronco Sport is coming from Jeep, but stealing market share from a rival is important. And historically, Ford has never had a bigger rival than General Motors.
Their tit for tat moves have been legendary, spanning back to the early part of the 20th century and rivaling through the muscle car era with Ford versus Camaro. As I reported, Camaro sales are sagging and this likely will mean the end of the Camaro in a couple of years.
What does all of this mean? Well, General Motors has been aggressive on their electrification plans. One could say almost too ambitious. And certainly you’ve seen their aggressive ad campaign for the all new EV GMC Hummer with the all-too-cool crab crawl feature.
GM announced two more EV vehicles that are surely aimed at Ford Motor Company. GM revealed a second EV Hummer would be coming to market and it looks a lot like the soon-to-be-released Ford Bronco.
While Ford has not announced an electric version of the two-door or four-door Bronco, they have more than 100,000 reservations for the iconic off-road vehicle. So this new EV Hummer, seems to have both the Bronco, Bronco Sport and even the Mustang Mach-E in its sights.
Likewise, just today, GM announced their first-ever electrified Chevy Silverado pickup. This is clearly aimed directly at Ford which has already advanced an EV version of the F-150. In fact, Ford says the EV F-150 will be released in 2022 as a 2023 model.
Let’s take a closer comparison of these two EVs from GM/Chevy to see how they might impact Ford’s product line.
EV Chevy Silverado vs. EV Ford F-150
Little is known or confirmed on either of these big pickup trucks. We know Ford is the first out with their EV F-150, which is slated to start production in 2022, released late in 2022 for a 2023 model year.
No production date or release date has been provided by GM, as the EV Silverado was just announced today. However, unlike Ford (who has not released the range of the EV F-150), GM says the EV Silverado will have a range of 400 miles on a full charge.
That is less than the Tesla Cybertruck but more than the Mustang Mach-E and would be an impressive number. Of course, we don’t know how towing or payload will diminish range on either of these trucks, and that will be the big “prove it” point for both company’s marketers to overcome.
Ford did release a video of the EV F-150 towing a million pounds (in a staged event). But that at least showed they were going to be serious about the ability of the EV F-150 and I’m sure Chevy will follow with similar stunts and campaigns.
EV Hummer Truck and SUV
GM announced during the Super Bowl that the Hummer would be back as a truck, but just recently revealed the luxury-brand would also get an off-road SUV version. With two different EV Hummers, GM is serious about rivaling Tesla, Rivian and of course Ford.
In early information the EV Hummer truck allegedly has 1,000 horsepower and a 0-60 time of 3 seconds. None of this is surprising as EVs are torquey and fast. The EV F-150 will likely rival those numbers.
Where the rubber meets the road will be in the payload and towing. Can the EV Hummer truck outpull the Cybertruck or the EV F-150. We don’t have those official numbers but you can assume the towing will be north of 9-10,000 pounds, and it needs to be.
Ford hasn’t released those numbers for the EV F-150 but Tesla has said the Cybertruck will have towing capability of around 14,000 pounds.
EV Hummer SUV vs. Ford Bronco and Mustang Mach-E
The newly announced EV Hummer SUV seems to have a boxy, familiar look. Hello Ford Bronco, here’s something that’s clearly coming for you.
The off-road ability and shape of the EV Hummer SUV indeed seems familiar. The Bronco has no electric variant (yet) and frankly Bronco fans just want the iconic SUV released and on lots after waiting a decade for its return.
But will the EV Hummer SUV eat into some of the Bronco market? Or will it perhaps eat some of the burgeoning Mustang Mach-E market. GM has a Mach-E rival with the Chevy Bolt.
My colleague John Goreham did a great analysis of the Mach-E and Bolt to show that these are two very different vehicles. So maybe, GM is aiming the Hummer SUV right at the Mach-E and the Tesla Model Y.
One thing is for sure, the price tag of the EV Hummer (truck and SUV) will be unrivaled as both are expected to carry a high price tag and will be more expensive than the Bronco or the Mustang Mach-E (by a lot).
I am a firm believer that competition is good. It spurs on innovation and also can drive down prices. So General Motors engaging hard into the market to rival Tesla and Ford can only be a good thing. Ford relaunched their iconic Bronco brand and now GM has relaunched the Hummer nameplate. I have no doubt both will be popular in their own right.
Now with Chevy launching an EV Silverado, that will only push Ford and Tesla further in the electrified pickup world to make something faster, more capable for less money. That will be a win for the consumer.
Now it’s your chance to weigh in. Leave me your comments below.
Jimmy Dinsmore has been an automotive journalist for more than a decade and been a writer since the high school. His Driver’s Side column features new car reviews and runs in several newspapers throughout the country. He is also co-author of the book “Mustang by Design” and “Ford Trucks: A Unique Look at the Technical History of America’s Most Popular Truck”. Also, Jimmy works in the social media marketing world for a Canadian automotive training aid manufacturing company. Follow Jimmy on Facebook, Twitter, at his special Ford F-150 coverage on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can read the most of Jimmy's stories by searching Torque News Ford for daily Ford vehicle report.
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