Rivian and Ford are working together on a small-scale testing facility for electric cars, and those are the only two electric vehicles in their portfolios. That won’t be the case for much longer, though, and Ford CEO Jim Hackett has been clear about the intention to opt out of the electric vehicle market.
The collaboration between Ford and Rivian had a “stated goal” of producing a Ford Model X style vehicle with autonomous driving capabilities, reports Bloomberg, and that could be coming to an end.
Ford CEO Jim Hackett recently said “it’s obvious” that Ford would cease to be part of the electric vehicle market in the near future, reports Bloomberg. That wouldn’t necessarily mean giving up the electrification process entirely. Ford does maintain plans to release new hybrid cars, but this latest announcement means any purely electric vehicles on the way are not coming from the company.
Rivian CEO JB Straubel thinks that more people will get interested in electric vehicles if they cost less, but Straubel didn’t really see that as a problem. Straubel thinks that more affordable electric vehicles are coming, but it’s less clear where Ford fits into that.
Elsewhere, Ford rival GM is developing an electric SUV for 2021 that’ll slot between its Chevy Bolt and the electric Chevy Cruze.