Ford CEO Jim Farley has shared how disassembling a Tesla Model 3 revealed flaws in his company's electric vehicle approach. The experience left him flabbergasted and prompted significant changes in Ford's EV strategy. Farley highlighted the impact of internal biases on their initial designs.
Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, recently discussed in an interview with Car and Driver his first five years leading the company. He explained that post-COVID, Ford recognized it had not designed its electric vehicles correctly, a realization stemming from tearing apart a Tesla Model 3.
Farley described being 'flabbergasted' by the differences he observed. Ford's wiring harness in the Mustang Mach-E was 70 pounds heavier and 1.6 kilometers longer than Tesla's equivalent. This inefficiency stemmed from what he called an 'internal-combustion-engine prejudice' that influenced Ford's engineering. Despite positive reception for models like the Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit, Farley noted that the added costs made them uncompetitive, as consumers would not pay the premium prices.
'We didn’t know what was going on in [Tesla engineers’] minds. But now we understand,' Farley said. 'They had no prejudice. We had prejudice.'
In a prior appearance on the Office Hours Podcast, Farley mentioned feeling 'humbled' by the teardown. The extra 70 pounds of wiring added about $200 per vehicle in battery costs, as it required more energy to transport the weight.
Farley also drew lessons from Chinese electric vehicles, such as those from BYD and Xiaomi. In November 2025, he described stripping them down as equally shocking, revealing similar issues with unnecessary weight and expense in Ford's designs. As a result, Ford separated its electric vehicle operations into a dedicated unit to address these shortcomings.
This openness about learning from competitors underscores a shift in the automotive industry toward more efficient EV production.
