DETROIT, May 30 Reuters Ford CEO Jim Farley wants the industry to stop viewing hybrid vehicles as only an interim solution to be used until drivers are comfortable going fully electric.

We should stop talking about it as transitional technology, Farley said of hybrids at a Bernstein analyst conference on Thursday.

Plugin hybrids, which include a small battery that can be used for shorter distances, may not be relevant in a few years, Farley said. However, extendedrange hybrids are an important technology for the industry39;s future, he said.

Hybrid vehicles, which bridge the divide between gaspowered vehicles and EVs, have experienced a surge in demand over the past year, prompting automakers to scale back on their drive to go electric.

Ford is aiming to quadruple hybrid sales over the next several years, executives have said. It has pulled back on some of its EV investments and pushed back production of EVs in Canada and the U.S.

Separately, the Ford chief said on Thursday that EVs should not be subsidized, and that automakers should be pushing to profitably produce batterypowered models quickly.

We believe that we have to get to that fitness level as soon as possible, Farley said.

The Dearborn, Michigan company split its electric and software division from its gasengine operations in 2022, a move that executives said would improve efficiency in both segments.

The automaker separately reports results for the wings of its business following the restructuring….