- Ford's new EV platform is all about saving money.
- It will make cars cheaper and quicker to build and pass the savings on to the consumer.
- The first vehicle built on this platform is a four-door midsize electric pickup that will be quick and fun to drive thanks to downforce.
Ford is gearing up to deploy a new Universal EV Platform that will underpin a series of vehicles starting with a new midsize pickup, which may be called the Ranchero. The new architecture simplifies the production process, uses fewer parts, and promises a lower cost of ownership.
The automaker specifically states that the five-year ownership cost will be lower than that of a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y, but without providing actual numbers. The platform will allow vehicles to have 20% fewer parts compared to “a typical vehicle,” it will have to pass through fewer workstations until final assembly, and it will take around 15% less time to manufacture.
One of the ways Ford is keeping costs down is by limiting the length of the cables and wires running through its new electric vehicles. The still-unnamed midsize truck, for instance, has a wiring harness that’s 4,000 feet shorter and 22 pounds lighter than that of a Mustang Mach-E.
Lisa Drake, Ford’s vice president of technology platform programs and EV systems, was previously quoted as saying that with this platform, Ford planned to match the cost structure of Chinese manufacturers in the hopes of competing with their very competitively priced vehicles. It will underpin much of Ford’s global electric-car strategy for at least the next decade and it will be able to take a wide range of body styles, including three-row vehicles.
The platform also promises to deliver performance and driving fun. Ford emphasizes that vehicles built on the new architecture will have “a low center of gravity from the battery, instant torque from electric motors, and obsessive chassis engineering [that] will make [them] fun to drive.” Interestingly, Ford even mentions that the midsize electric pickup will have meaningful downforce, which isn’t something you typically expect to see mentioned regarding a truck.
Doug Field, Ford chief EV, digital and design officer, explains, “We took inspiration from the Model T—the universal car that changed the world. We applied first-principles engineering, pushing to the limits of physics to make it fun to drive and compete on affordability. Our new zonal electric architecture unlocks capabilities the industry has never seen. This isn’t a stripped-down, old-school vehicle.”
The upcoming Ford midsize electric pickup will have a starting price of around $30,000 and enter production at the Louisville Assembly Plant in 2027 after a significant $2 billion investment to transform the facility into an EV manufacturing hub. Ford says it will offer the straight-line performance of a Mustang Ecoboost but more passenger room than a Toyota RAV4, as well as generous cargo room in the frunk and bed.
Powering the new EV pickup and likely other future models on the same platform are battery packs made of prismatic cells co-developed with Chinese battery giant CATL and made in the United States. With their lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, these batteries will be cheaper and less resource-intensive to manufacture compared to nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries, and while they are not better for outright range, they do hold some technical advantages.
While Ford didn’t say its new pickup will be its first true software-defined vehicle (a big buzzword in the industry these days), it did mention the vehicle will be “digitally advanced.” However, other than saying it supports over-the-air updates, which improve its software over time and add new features, it didn’t share any additional details.
