Ford’s introduction of the Model T in 1908 ushered in an era of affordable, mass-manufactured vehicles. Now, the automaker wants to do the same thing for electric vehicles.
On Monday, Ford unveiled what its secretive, Silicon Valley-based skunkworks team has been up to for the last three years. It announced plans to launch a new midsize electric truck in 2027, revealed a platform that will underpin a family of next-gen EVs, and detailed what it calls the “Ford Universal EV Production System,” a new manufacturing process that executives compared to Ford’s popularization of the moving assembly line.
The new EV platform, CEO Jim Farley said at an event at the automaker’s Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, “represents the most radical change in how we design and how we build vehicles at Ford since the Model T.”
Trucking along: The first EV on the new platform will be a four-door pickup with a $30,000 target price, Farley said. The project will secure about 2,200 hourly jobs at Louisville Assembly, into which Ford is investing nearly $2 billion.
Ford will share additional details about the truck later, but touted manufacturing efficiencies such as a 4,000-foot reduction in wiring compared to Ford’s current-generation EVs, space and weight savings thanks to the LFP batteries Ford is preparing to produce for its forthcoming EVs, and the truck’s ability to power a house for several days.
Branching out: The universal EV platform will reduce “parts by 20% versus a typical vehicle, with 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer workstations dock-to-dock in the plant and 15% faster assembly time,” according to a news release.
Ford executives revealed an innovation they call an “assembly tree” that will feature three sub-assemblies that “run down their own lines simultaneously and then join together,” versus a traditional assembly line.
Keep up with the innovative tech transforming business
Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech.
The new production system will enable “large single-piece aluminum unicastings” to “replace dozens of smaller parts, enabling the front and rear of the vehicle to be assembled separately,” according to Ford.
This system, which Ford leaders said “dramatically improves ergonomics for employees,” will involve sending parts kits to operators. These innovations, according to Ford, could speed up the assembly of the midsize truck by up to 40% compared to Louisville Assembly’s current process.
“Finding new and less expensive ways to make vehicles, especially electric vehicles, is going to be the move of the future,” Sam Fiorani, VP of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, told Tech Brew. “And it’s going to prepare them for when buyers show up for electric vehicles.”
Pivoting: Ford currently offers three EVs: the Mustang Mach-E SUV, the F-150 Lightning pickup truck, and E-Transit cargo van. Sales of Ford’s all-electric vehicles were down 11.8% YoY in the first half of the year, though its hybrid sales grew by more than 27%. The automaker expects to lose more than $5 billion on EVs this year.
Ford previously canceled plans to build an electric three-row SUV and recently confirmed it was delaying the launch of next-gen versions of the Lightning and E-Transit.
“The transition to EV is slower than they had originally planned,” Fiorani said. “It’s slower than most manufacturers had originally planned.”
Ford’s revamped EV strategy comes during a challenging time for the sector, as it braces for the Sept. 30 expiration of federal tax incentives for EV purchases and navigates other headwinds like tariffs and growing competition from China.
Farley acknowledged that success is not guaranteed: “I can’t tell you with 100% certainty that this will all go just right. It is a bet. There is risk.”