Following the trends of General Motors and Tesla, Ford is planning to invest about 4.5 billion dollars in manufacturing electric cars. A major setback has been the high costs, which have led to relatively slow progress in development of next generation batteries. This means that the automaker will have to convince its consumers to embrace electric cars. So far, no encouragement has been offered to Ford by Wall Street considering the fact that the automaker’s stock experienced a third consecutive low last month. This was regardless of the fact that it had made its plan clear to invest in electric cars.

According to Ford’s director of electrification programs, Kevin Layden, the costs of batteries are not reducing at a favorable rate. While we are yet to see any breakthroughs, engineers and scientists are trying their best to find ways of minimizing lithium-ion battery costs by up to twenty percent. The objective will be lowering the cost and weight of electric cars while at the same time improving their power.

The improvements mentioned coupled with other forms of amendments will be vital to actualizing the plans of Ford’s CEO, Mark Fields, to produce 13 brand new plug-in hybrid and electric cars in four years time. By 2020, Fields hopes that forty percent of all the nameplates associated with Ford will have an option for electric power. This will be up from the current 13 percent. Although the prices of fuel are lower than they’ve been for quite a while, automakers are still boosting their green car production following the intense government pressure put on them to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions. The heightened concern about the issue of global warming also pushes forward the agenda of green car production.

Some of the primary barriers that Ford will have to overcome in order to attract investors to the electric car project include the high costs of labor and worries concerning sales in the South American market. The car manufacturer remains positive and hopeful that these are just stepping stones towards ultimate success. It is believed that the next generation of electric cars will bring in high profits. This will be possible when the costs of batteries, as well manufacturing costs are lowered.

Ford plans to follow the example of other electric manufacturing company leaders such as Nissan, General Motors and Tesla. These automakers have consistently produced electric cars that have been successful and highly profitable. It is evident that green cars such as electric and hybrid cars are the cars of a sustainable future.