In April 2025, Ford Motor Company saw its U.S. EV sales plunge 40% year-over-year—just 4,859 units sold, down from 8,019 in April 2024. All three of Ford’s electric models, including the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit van, experienced double-digit declines.
While the company attributed the drop to low inventory and model-year transitions, with only 9 and 19 days’ supply of Mach-Es and Lightnings at dealerships respectively, the scale of the decline suggests deeper issues: waning consumer appetite for battery electric vehicles and growing price sensitivity amid economic uncertainty.
Even as EV demand softens, Ford’s hybrid sales have surged. The automaker sold 187,426 hybrid units in 2024, marking a 40% increase from the prior year. This shift mirrors a broader market recalibration, as consumers look for lower-cost, range-stable options amid concerns over charging infrastructure and resale value.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has acknowledged the pivot, noting that hybrids—long treated as a transitional technology—now represent a core growth area. The automaker is leaning into hybrid platforms for core models and pulling back on less profitable, long-range EV bets.
Ford’s Model e division, responsible for EVs and software, has become a costly endeavor. In 2023, it posted a $4.7 billion loss, followed by another $5.1 billion loss in 2024. Forecasts for 2025 show losses could exceed $5.5 billion.
Worsening the outlook, Ford recently wrote off $1.9 billion by canceling a planned three-row electric SUV—envisioned as a “personal bullet train” with a 350-mile range. The write-down includes a $400 million non-cash charge and up to $1.5 billion in unrealized future costs.
Separately, Ford scrapped its FNV4 software platform, a unified EV and internal combustion system designed to compete with Tesla’s digital architecture. Sources cited ballooning costs and timeline overruns.
In light of mounting financial losses, Ford is pulling back on pure EV investment. The company reduced EV-related capital expenditures from 40% to 30% and is reallocating funds to hybrid development and commercial EV platforms.
Future efforts include a new commercial electric van set to launch in 2026 and a midsize electric pickup planned for 2027, developed by a specialized “skunkworks” team in California. Ford is also investing in enhanced charging infrastructure by aligning with Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS).
Still, executives have made clear that profitability—not volume—is now the guiding principle.
Ford’s April EV nosedive is not an isolated event—it’s emblematic of shifting consumer sentiment and a sobering moment for automakers betting big on electrification. While total EV sales grew in previous years—Ford sold nearly 98,000 BEVs in 2024—recent pullbacks across the industry suggest the path to mainstream EV adoption will be slower, more costly, and more complex than anticipated.
Ford’s pivot signals a new era: leaner investments, consumer-driven product strategies, and a recognition that the hybrid bridge may be longer than automakers first thought.
