Ford made a capital markets event on May 22 that wanted to prove the company no longer fits into the valuation box that comprises most other carmakers. The automotive industry is seen as a high-investment, low-margin business, and the Blue Oval brand wants to highlight how its Ford+ strategic plan made it less vulnerable to that. As crucial as that is, what stood out in the presentation was Jim Farley's concern about the dumb range strategy for BEVs.
Peter Rawlinson christened the approach that way. The Lucid CEO came up with that name using massive battery packs to contrast it with his company's pursuit for more efficiency and smaller components as the right thing to do. Although the Lucid Air has a battery pack with 118 kWh, it delivers the most extended EPA range: 520 miles. The more you can do with the same amount of energy, the longer the range. For Rawlinson, adding more cells to drive further is stupid. Farley did not frame the problem that way, but that's the perfect description for it.
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