New Podcast Interview with Ford's Alan Clarke - Includes Range Discussion

[PowerShift]

Alan Clarke, Vice President of the team that's developing the Fathom did an interview with the Green Cars podcast. They asked him point blank about range. He hinted that the higher range model would reach 300 miles but the base model almost definitely wouldn't. Another thing I heard that I hadn't heard before was that some electronic components in the Fathom were made more expensive than they had to be to improve range. He wouldn't commit to a specific on-sale date other than sometime in 2027.

 

[Jasonkola]

Disappointed to see the comment about sacrificing the towing. I hope they at least give it 5K towing.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

Sandy Munro would love that comment about spending more on certain components because they saved money on a system wide level.

When it comes to looks and capabilities, I keep circling back to Jim Farley's comment that it's not a pickup. It doesn't look like a pickup or act like a pickup. Personally, I think it's going to be a rather hot-looking chopped station wagon with a bed. Those who have viewed the prototype seem shocked about how small it is - I predict that's because it's station wagon height, not because of the vehicle length. That also rings with Clarke's previous comments on how every millimeter of height removed saves battery.

 

[onuiebvbevnulib]

What sort of range?

Video queued to start of range discussion. Just press play.

 

[metroshot]

....
When it comes to looks and capabilities, I keep circling back to Jim Farley's comment that it's not a pickup. It doesn't look like a pickup or act like a pickup. Personally, I think it's going to be a rather hot-looking chopped station wagon with a bed. Those who have viewed the prototype seem shocked about how small it is - I predict that's because it's station wagon height, not because of the vehicle length. That also rings with Clarke's previous comments on how every millimeter of height removed saves battery.

Should be interesting if the Fathom will be classified as a truck or crossover since the unibody design seems to infer a crossover...

Makes a difference when DMV charges for the registration (commercial vs non).

 

[WXman]

300 miles of range if you pay thousands more than the base price. Cheaper battery type and same old 400v charge system, as we expected considering the price of this vehicle. Sounds like maybe we'll end up with 2,500 lbs. of towing to handle a lawn mower or jet skis. It's basically shaping up as we expected. It's not rocket science....they have to make sacrifices to reach the price target. I've already given my thoughts on that in other threads. There are lots of other places people will see cost cutting when we're able to view a Fathom in person.

 

[mark]

I found the discussion on battery options promising. They are going to offer both larger battery and better improved CATL chemistry battery possibly in both sizes. This will be beneficial for both range and the option I care most about which is power during a storm outage. Appreciated the honesty on order and delivery expectations.

 

[onuiebvbevnulib]

I found the discussion on battery options promising. They are going to offer both larger battery and better improved CATL chemistry battery possibly in both sizes. This will be beneficial for both range and the option I care most about which is power during a storm outage. Appreciated the honesty on order and delivery expectations.

Same here. I lived through the ice storms here in Texas in 2021 and the blackouts. So I will be ordering the Fathom with the extended range battery. I like that you can and should charge to 100% power.

Video queued to discussion on LFP battery being charged to 100% daily and great for power to home. Video queued to discussion just press play.

 

[WXman]

Yeah that's an interesting topic. If we look at, say, a Lightning or Mach-E you'll note that they've already reduced the usable amount of the battery in the software. For example, my Lightning had a 135ish kWh pack, but the software limited it to 123 kWh usable. So, if I charged to 100% on the screen I was really only charging to around 90%.

So, I never really understood the advice to not charge to 100%. If I set the truck to charge to 90% on the screen, it would only be using 80% of the actual capacity of the battery pack.

 

[PowerShift]

I'm not convinced by Clarke's point about people being willing to accept a low range because they'll use the EV only for commuting and keep an ICE vehicle for longer trips. I just don't think a lot of people do that and the simple proof of that is that shorter range EV's (under 225 miles) just don't sell that well. I also think a lot of EV drivers want to make a clean break form gas, keeping an ICE vehicle around for some trips kind of defeats the purpose.

While they don't want to make a long range battery standard they are making BlueCruise hardware and Apple Maps standard. But why would you want those if all you're doing is commuting? (BlueCruise only works on major highways.) Seems more like a play for subscription revenue.

Also he seemed pretty adamant that the Fathom would not have much towing capacity. Not an issue for me but this vehicle looks like a truck and some people will expect it to do truck things.I think they need to do a better job defining what the Fathom is and not just what it costs.

 

[Tdubz]

No CarPlay ultra. Was hoping we might see that on this vehicle. One of the features I liked most about ultra was that it could also use the IP screen, but if rumors are true that the fathom doesn’t have an IP, then it’s not that big of a loss.

 

[onuiebvbevnulib]

No CarPlay ultra. Was hoping we might see that on this vehicle. One of the features I liked most about ultra was that it could also use the IP screen, but if rumors are true that the fathom doesn’t have an IP, then it’s not that big of a loss.

It is a plus for No CarPlay Ultra. No way in H*ll do I want Apple to have control of my vehicle.

Jim Farley states why that is a very bad idea: If Apple wants to control the vehicle that is a bridge too far

Video queued to start of discussion. Just press play.

 

[Ranchero 2028]

Disappointed to see the comment about sacrificing the towing. I hope they at least give it 5K towing.

When Allen

Alan Clarke, Vice President of the team that's developing the Fathom did an interview with the Green Cars podcast. They asked him point blank about range. He hinted that the higher range model would reach 300 miles but the base model almost definitely wouldn't. Another thing I heard that I hadn't heard before was that some electronic components in the Fathom were made more expensive than they had to be to improve range. He wouldn't commit to a specific on-sale date other than sometime in 2027.

They have mentioned all along ,that they emphasized “light towing”being Jet skis,light trailers, as there research has indicated what people do with a similar size Maverick.MOST people ,and myself! would be thrilled if the tow rating was 3k.It won’t be long to find out

 

[Jasonkola]

Most people tow light loads with the Maverick because it has a low tow capacity. If it only has a 3K tow capacity I will just take my business else ware.

 

[WXman]

I'm not convinced by Clarke's point about people being willing to accept a low range because they'll use the EV only for commuting and keep an ICE vehicle for longer trips. I just don't think a lot of people do that and the simple proof of that is that shorter range EV's (under 225 miles) just don't sell that well. I also think a lot of EV drivers want to make a clean break form gas, keeping an ICE vehicle around for some trips kind of defeats the purpose.

While they don't want to make a long range battery standard they are making BlueCruise hardware and Apple Maps standard. But why would you want those if all you're doing is commuting? (BlueCruise only works on major highways.) Seems more like a play for subscription revenue.

Also he seemed pretty adamant that the Fathom would not have much towing capacity. Not an issue for me but this vehicle looks like a truck and some people will expect it to do truck things.I think they need to do a better job defining what the Fathom is and not just what it costs.

I'm actually in the exact camp he describes. I tried a F-150 Lightning, but towing range was MISERABLE and it ruined our family camping trips. So after only 6 months I went back to a full size diesel truck.

Now I want a smaller EV to use as a daily driver, while keeping the diesel for jobs and camping trips. The diesel truck is the perfect long range vehicle, and perfect vacation/camping vehicle. The EV will be the perfect daily commuter.

AND, a side benefit to having two vehicles with different fuel types is that when the electricity is out during ice storms or severe thunderstorms I can rely on diesel fuel. When diesel fuel is $6/gallon at other times I can rely on the EV. It's nice having backup plans.