Ford's hybrids recorded their greatest gross sales quarter ever – however so did gas-guzzlers

Regardless of a lot disappointment within the business because of the slowdown in EV gross sales progress, Ford's electrical autos will not be performing too badly. However hybrids are the place the Blue Oval is de facto crushing it, recording its greatest quarter in its almost 20 years of promoting gas-electric hybrids.

The automaker offered 38,421 hybrid autos within the first three months of 2024, marking a 42 p.c enhance in comparison with Q1 in 2023. Gross sales of the hybrid model of Ford's midsize Maverick pickup truck had been up 77 p.c from 19,660 gross sales a yr earlier. And with the brand new F-150 Hybrid getting ready to ship to sellers, Ford says hybrid gross sales will proceed to develop all year long.

Total, hybrids are having a little bit of a renaissance. “Hybrids are the extra snug choice for many People wanting an electrified choice proper now,” says Edmunds, including that hybrid progress – as much as 65 p.c in 2023 – is far quicker than that of pure battery-electric autos – as much as solely 46 p.c.

Ford's gas-guzzling SUVs (Escape, Explorer, Expedition and Bronco) additionally had a historic quarter, which the corporate is looking its “greatest ever.” Ford offered 216,997 SUVs – up 15 p.c from final yr. This can be a fairly clear (and, should you're involved about the way forward for the planet, disappointing) signal that combustion engine autos aren't going wherever within the close to future.

Ford's three EVs – the Mustang Mach-E, the F-150 Lightning and the E-Transit van – carried out admirably final quarter. Gross sales of pure battery-electric autos had been up 86 p.c from final yr, for a complete of 20,223 EVs, the corporate mentioned — although that quantity declined 22 p.c in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2023. (Gross sales are historically sluggish within the first quarter every year.)

Ford offered 9,589 Mustang Mach-E SUVs (77 p.c enhance yr over yr), 7,743 F-150 Lightning vans (80 p.c enhance), and a pair of,891 E-Transit vans (148 p.c enhance). Total, Ford mentioned it has maintained its place because the No. 2 vendor of EVs within the US, though it nonetheless lags behind Tesla by a substantial margin. (Tesla delivered greater than 386,000 EVs within the first quarter of this yr.)

Different automakers are struggling to seek out clients for his or her EVs. For instance, Normal Motors offered solely 16,425 EVs within the first quarter, or 2.8 p.c of complete gross sales. The corporate is within the midst of ramping up manufacturing of its new Altium-powered EVs just like the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Blazer, whereas Chevy is ceasing manufacturing of the Bolt, which is being discontinued and changed with an Altium model.

GM can also be making an attempt to get in on the hybrid motion, fast-tracking hybrid variations of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra.

After all, there are credible arguments in opposition to hybrids. The present local weather disaster we face now doesn’t require half measures – and hybrids are actually half measures. We have to dramatically cut back our fossil gasoline consumption, which is why the Biden administration goes all-in on battery EVs. This variation ought to occur as quickly as doable.