Fast Facts:
- Ford’s Universal EV Platform will support many new EV models. The first will be a midsize electric truck, entering production in 2027.
- Ford says the interior of the truck will match the popular Toyota RAV4 and be roughly the size of its gas-powered Maverick.
- The $30K truck will be as quick as a Mustang EcoBoost with a zero to 60mph time of 4.5 seconds.
Ford’s Universal EV Platform Comes Into Focus
There was plenty of news on new hybrid vehicles, all-electric cars, and gas generator powered EVs at this year’s Detroit Auto Show in January. But one of the more enlightening bits of news centered around Ford’s new Universal EV Platform. Ford CEO Jim Farley mentioned the company’s new Formula 1 powertrain project with Red Bull, using it as a segway to talk about Ford’s Universal EV Platform.
Cutting Costs to Compete Globally
The platform will create vehicles with 20 percent fewer parts, will operate with fewer workstations, and take workers 15 percent less time to build. The platform will begin with Ford’s new midsize EV pickup truck that is says will retail at under $30,000. The carmaker expects the five-year ownership cost will be less than a three-year old Tesla Model Y.
Ford’s $30K truck sits inside a broader manufacturing bet, and this Universal EV Platform investment breakdown gives the deeper plant + cost context ➜
Lisa Drake, Ford’s vice president of technology has said that Ford is planning to match the cost structure of Chinese EV manufacturers to be able to compete with their EV prices. The new architecture will create a wide range of vehicles that offer a low center of gravity for the battery packs and exciting driving through innovative chassis engineering and instant EV torque.
A High-Risk Project Inside Ford
At the Detroit Auto Show, Ford’s head honcho Jim Farley called the Universal EV Platform one of the most challenging projects he has ever been involved in saying, “This is literally like the Apollo or Gemini mission within Ford,” likening it to the famous American space programs. He called the UEP project, “A uniquely American, high-risk project.”
Prototypes, Software, and the Road to 2027
Ford is apparently going full speed ahead on its new Platform in its Louisville, Kentucky plant. Farley said, “All parts are quoted and designed, and now we’re deeply into retrofitting the manufacturing facility. We stopped Escape production. We have the megacasting machines now up and running.” He went on to announce that Ford is currently building prototypes of the new $30K truck with zonal electric architecture software controlling the vehicles. “I was very excited to see the vehicle turning and stopping with Ford software.”
About a year after the new truck debuts, it will offer full automated driver assistance technology allowing you to have the vehicle drive itself without the need to keep your eyes on the road. Plus, the new platform will let Ford build many lower cost EV models that can compete with China’s BYD in terms of production costs. These will be low-cost electric vehicles for consumers that will still be profitable for Ford.
“We have taken on so many experimental approaches to new suppliers,” Farley said. “You know, it’s a totally different way of building the vehicle. New workstation designs, all new IT solutions to support the parts release. There are so many experimental things for Ford right now, we’re just focused on landing the plane.”
More on Ford’s EV Strategy
Ford Invests $5B to Launch Universal EV Platform and Affordable EVs
The deeper context behind Ford’s platform push, Louisville plant changes, and the cost-cutting strategy aimed at a $30K EV
Read More ➜
Ford F-150 Lightning Faces Cancellation
A reality-check on Ford’s current electric truck business while it tries to reset costs with a new platform and product plan
Read More ➜
Ford Retools the Lightning Into a 700-Mile Extended-Range Electric Truck
How Ford is also chasing bigger-range solutions in parallel with its low-cost EV strategy
Read More ➜
