Chargenomics CEO Loren McDonald: Ford’s midsize electric pickup may be the Goldilocks solution

**Molly Boygan** (0:03)
Hello, and welcome to the Automotive News Shift podcast, where we bring you the latest on automotive technology, trends and transformation.
I'm Molly Boygan, tech and innovation reporter at Automotive News. Our guest today is Loren McDonald, an electric vehicle and charging expert with Chargenomics. He spoke to our own Jerry Hirsch about why Ford's bet on a mid-sized electric pickup may have different outcome than the failed bet on the F-150 Lightning.

**Loren McDonald** (0:32)
It feels like it could find a good spot within that suburban commuter slash weekend warrior group that doesn't need the big truck to tow their boat.

**Molly Boygan** (0:43)
But first, let's talk about the week. For that, I'm joined by my colleague, Dave Phillips, news editor at Automotive News. Hi, Dave.

**Dave Phillips** (0:49)
Good afternoon. Glad to be here.

**Molly Boygan** (0:52)
Dave, you wrote a story about how the US light vehicle market got boost from hybrid powertrains during the month of May. What did the different brands report about their hybrid sales?

**Dave Phillips** (1:03)
Well, basically, with the rise in gas prices, because of what's going on in the Middle East, EV purchase consideration and hybrid purchase consideration is basically increased. I mean, a bunch of conscious people are looking for alternatives.
Overall, the market saw a 33 percent increase in hybrids in May. That was a big bright spot. The overall market was up just a tad. Kind of resettling from the two distortions last year with tariffs and the end of the EV tax credit. But year to date, the market's still down about five percent. But there's no question that if you have a hybrid to sell, you're selling them. That's the big question is just trying to find them. Everybody in the industry, whether it's Toyota or Honda is trying to procure more hybrids.

**Molly Boygan** (1:43)
Has there been a problem for the manufacturers procuring hybrids? Or are they able to basically-

**Dave Phillips** (1:50)
Well, if you look at Volkswagen, their dealers have been pressing the company for hybrids for a long time, and they finally have decided to go with it, but they want to source their hybrids here in the US, so they have to reach out to suppliers. All those parts and everything have to be validated. The lead time, just like anything else in the industry, takes time. But if you look at a Honda and a Toyota where they've been invested in hybrids for decades now, and they have the scale and the volume, that's where you're really seeing the big spike.
In May, I want to say Toyota's electrified vehicle sales, most of those being hybrids, some of them are EVs because they've come out with some new EVs, were like 50 percent of Toyota's volume last year. That was up from 50 percent a year ago.
Toyota, or not at Toyota, but at Honda, 50-55 percent of the CRV in a cord volume now is hybrids.
The only company that really struggled with hybrids last month was Ford. They're dealing with some issues. They've dropped the Escape, which came with a hybrid, and then the F-150 hybrid is taking a hit because Ford was hit by an aluminum supplier last year that's really done of their F-150 supplies, and that's their top-selling model, and the F-150 is down 10-15 percent a year to date. But again, I was in a Subaru store a couple weeks ago here in Metro Detroit, and there's a new Forester hybrid out now. The Crosstrux had a hybrid for a couple of years now, but they did not have a single hybrid in their inventory. They're the fastest churning vehicle right now in the industry.

**Molly Boygan** (3:23)
Do you think there's any danger of manufacturers procuring oversupply of hybrids, or do you feel like the hybrid excitement is independent of the macro conditions and the war in Iran?

**Dave Phillips** (3:39)
I think at this point, there's no danger in getting too many hybrids. I mean, these things are selling before they're even arriving at the dealership. I mean, Hyundai, Randy Parker told me this week, he's the head of Hyundai here in America. They're doing what they can to try to procure more hybrids from Korea. It's really hot. I mean, as the EV market settles, and it is settling, we had the big spike last year.
Subaru and Toyota are out with new EVs. They're starting to get some traction. I know Hyundai did very well with their EVs. They've got that new EV9. The EV5, I think, set a record for May, Randy told me.
I think the market's going to settle.

**Molly Boygan** (4:21)
Yeah, the market's settling on EVs, and of course, that's coming from the spike pull-through factor ahead of the end of the EV tax credit. Then there was a sharp decline from that pre-end of tax credit period, and now we're leveling off, is that what you're saying?