Toronto, Ontario — Ford’s CEO doesn’t expect EV price parity until at least 2030, Jeep is gearing up for a showcase of its off-road AV technology and a whistleblower sheds some light on Tesla’s FSD drama. This is the latest in electric and autonomous vehicles.
Ford’s future
Ford CEO Jim Farley said at an investor conference in late May that he doesn’t expect EV consumers to see price parity with ICE vehicles until at least 2030, despite the average analyst prediction of 2025.
Farley says that the company is still working through process and labour issues in EV development, but once it has a few more model generations under its belt, he expects the savings to arrive in about a decade or so, when Ford will benefit from the “dramatically lower labour content” required to build EVs.
In response to a question about industry consolidation, Farley said the EV sector is experiencing an “acceleration of cooperation,” referring to Ford’s recent deal with Tesla to share charging networks.
“Cooperation is essential,” Farley said.
Hands-free, road-free
Stellantis recently unveiled a video teasing updates to Jeep’s autonomous off-road driving technology, showing off how engineers program a vehicle to navigate rough terrain hands-free.
The video shows Stellantis’ head of AI and autonomous driving, Neda Cvijetic, out in the red sands of Moab, Utah, both behind the wheel of a prototype Jeep model, as well as outside, controlling it remotely via a tablet.
“In the same way that our 4xe electrification takes Jeep brand’s off-road capability to new heights, these advanced off-road driving systems will help more customers in more countries around the world join and enjoy the adventure. These features and technology will have real-life applications on and off the trail in a wide range of driving conditions,” said Jeep CEO Christian Meunier.
Jeep says a full video showcase of the technology is coming later this summer.
Tattling on Tesla
An unnamed “Tesla whistleblower” came forward to a German newspaper in late May with leaked reports that provide some insight into the OEMs handling of Full Self-Driving (FSD) complaints.
With the leak of these 2,400 documents, describing various defects and incidents involving FSD, comes the revelation that Tesla allegedly instructed employees to sort out these customer complaints verbally—never to be referenced via email, text message, or described in a voicemail.
Handelsblatt, the newspaper in which the documents were leaked, claims that they have been in possession of them for about six months now, but has only recently been able to sufficiently verify their authenticity.
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