Ford Motor Company penned an agreement earlier this year with Smith Electric Vehicles (SEV) United States to electrify its Transit Connect van for a 2010 release. This partnership came to an abrupt end this past week as SEV US decided that the Transit Connect project was not worth an ongoing investment. The automaker has decided that Ford’s production goals for this battery-electric vehicle are too modest to achieve a worthwhile return on investment. SEV USA plans to continue producing its Newton electric truck in its Kansas City facility along with a new agreement with the United States Postal Service (USPS).
The failed partnership did not deter Ford from immediately finding another collaborator to bring the Transit Connect to life by 2010. Ford is working with Azure Dynamics to use the latter’s Force Drive system in the first generation of the Transit Connect. This new partnership emerged thanks to past collaborations as well as the connection between both companies with Johnson Controls-Saft. Johnson Controls-Saft will supply Azure with long-life batteries for the Ford Transit Connect project. Ford stated last week that the Transit Connect remains slated for 2010 with a battery-electric Ford Focus due by 2011 and a plug-in hybrid by 2012.
A motivating factor in SEV’s move away from Ford is its upcoming project to create an electric vehicle for the USPS. SEV US is working with Indiana-based commercial vehicle maker AM General to produce an electric version of the familiar Long Life Vehicle (LLV) for the federal agency. The USPS currently runs 178,000 Long Life Vehicles throughout the United States. If AM General and SEV US demonstrate an ability to make the LLV electric, the federal government would go well beyond its $10 million in grants to SEV to decrease its dependency on gasoline.
Corporate partnerships collapse frequently with reasons ranging from capital shortages to differing corporate philosophies. In the case of the Ford-SEV partnership, the principals involved are moving in entirely different directions. Ford is working toward passenger vehicles powered by batteries and electric motors rather than hybrids. SEV and its partners will focus more acutely on commercial vehicles with a massive production order on the horizon. Ford fans should be concerned that SEV saw modest goals for the Transit Connect as sufficient to break off its partnership. Fisker, Tesla and foreign automakers are passing Ford in terms of green vehicles. Unless Ford increases its expectations and puts the pedal to the metal on EV development, these companies may be joined by components manufacturers and partners waving to the venerable automaker in the rear view mirror.
