CompositesWorld
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23 CompositesWorld.com NEWS N E W S N S N E W S E N W S W Ford's 2020 EV Goals Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, MI, US) will invest an addi- tional US$4.5 billion in elec- trifed vehicle (EV) solutions by 2020, including a new Focus Electric with all-new DC fast-charge capability. The latter reportedly delivers an 80% charge in an esti- mated 30 minutes — about two hours faster than today's Focus Electric — and will have a projected 100-mile range. This represents Ford's largest-ever electrifed vehicle investment in a fve-year period. The announcement, which surfaced Dec. 10, 2015, also noted that the auto- maker intends to add 13 new EVs to its product portfolio during the same timeframe. If that happens, more than 40% of Ford's nameplates globally will be electrifed by decade's end. Ford's shift to add electrifed vehicle solutions answers increasing global trends calling for cleaner, more efcient vehicles. Ford had no comment on the role that composites might play in the new EV thrust but emphasized that it is redefning how future vehicles are created, moving from a features-based product development to a customer- experience-led process, applying insights from social scientists. "The chal- lenge going forward isn't who provides the most technology in a vehicle but who best organizes that technology in a way that most excites and delights people," explains Raj Nair, Ford's executive VP, product develop- ment. "By observing consumers, we can better understand which features and strengths users truly use and value and create even better experiences for them going forward." In addition to traditional market research, Ford is investing in social science-based research globally, observing how consumers interact with vehicles and gaining new insights into the cognitive, social, cultural, techno- logical and economic nuances that afect product design. Nair adds. "We are using new insights from anthropologists, sociologists, economists, journal- ists and designers, along with traditional business techniques, to re-imagine our product development process, create new experiences and make life better for millions of people." "For 70 years, market research has been done by asking people for their opinion. But Ford has always been fundamentally skeptical about that. Henry Ford used to say, 'If I asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse,'" says Christian Madsbjerg, founder of ReD Associates, a social science-based strategy consultancy, which started work- ing with Ford in 2012. "I chose to work with Ford because this approach is in their DNA and is setting the company at the forefront of this advanced and bold process, which is redefning market research and silo-busting the way the company operates." Ford's team of social scientists already has spent months exploring topics such as the future of luxury transport, how people form relationships with their cars and the role of trucks in the American heartland. In 2016, Ford says it is doubling the number of projects that use such ethnographic research. During the past three years, the team has invested more than 4,000 hours with thousands of vehicle users in more than 25 cities worldwide, taking 80,000 photos, nearly 3,000 hours of video and more than 8,000 pages of feld notes, feeding countless insights to improve the product creation process. Run the Table Automated cutting systems that give you a competitive advantage. FLEXIBILITY To handle the widest range of materials - both dry and pre-preg composite materials in sheet or rolled form FAST AND EASY SET-UP For experimentation, concept testing or full-production runs SPECIAL SOLUTIONS FOR • Marking pattern pieces • Thick or rigid materials • Sealed edges • Angled cuts • Custom widths and lengths • Peel-ply removal • Material handling +1-716-856-2200 www.eastmancuts.com UPCOMING DEMOS JEC: 8-10 March TexProcess: 3-5 May FLEXIBILITY & ACCURACY FOR CUTTING COMPOSITES AUTOMOTIVE Ford to invest $4.5 billion in EVs, projects 13 new models by 2020 Source | Ford Motor Co.