Ford's bet on affordable electric vehicles began a few years ago with a secret research team led by Alan Clarke, an expert with 12 years of experience at Tesla. Part of their plan was revealed in August 2025 when Ford announced it would abandon its traditional mobile assembly line and invest $2 billion in the Louisville factory to apply a new production system, promising to increase production speed by 15%.
At that time, the company said that their electric vehicle line would be built on a common platform with aluminum monolithic cast parts - large parts are cast monolitically to remove parts and allow faster assembly - and lithium iron phosphate batteries with technology licensed from China's CATL.
Currently, Ford is sharing more detailed information in a series of posts on blogs and social networks about how the company will fulfill its promise of an attractive electric pickup truck, priced at only 30,000 USD, while still generating profits. Ford does not share specifications such as the operating range, features or charging time of this future electric vehicle. But the company has revealed plans to manufacture lighter, cheaper, and more efficient electric vehicles with fewer parts.
To achieve that, Clarke has set a goal to create a new culture built by engineers from Formula 1 and units such as Apple, Lucid Motors, Rivian and Tesla, as well as Auto Motive Power, a startup acquired by Ford in 2023.
“We have focused a lot on ensuring that the costs we cut from the product do not reduce its value. One example is that even the basic version of an electric pickup truck will have an electric folding rearview mirror, a high-end feature on most vehicles, because it reduces aerodynamic resistance,” Clarke shared.
The obsession with efficiency includes a group of engineers who used to work in the F1 race, who have closely collaborated with Ford's design team. According to Ford, the result is a mid-size electric pickup truck with aerodynamic efficiency 15% higher than any other pickup truck on the market today.
This group of engineers who participated in F1 used 3D printing and mechanical engineering parts to create a Lego-like model for their experimental car. Thousands of 3D-printed components, which are millimeter-sized in accuracy compared to Ford simulations and can be replaced in minutes, have been used to measure aerodynamics.
These Lego-like prototypes have been used in vent tunnel tests from the beginning and regularly for aerodynamic measurement, a process that Ford usually only uses when the design of a car is almost complete.
One point that needs to be focused on naturally is the battery, a part that can account for about 40% of the total cost of a car. A lighter, more efficient car allows Ford to use smaller batteries, helping to reduce costs.
According to Clarke, the final result will be an electric pickup truck with a range of about 15%, equivalent to 50 miles, longer than an equivalent gasoline pickup truck.
