New electric Ford pick-up to cost an astonishing £22k

Ford has announced a new electric vehicle platform that it’s hoping will be its next Model T moment. As part of a £3.8 billion investment, the brand has confirmed that it’ll produce a new, flexible and profitable family of cars that’ll be introduced in 2027, starting with a mid-size truck costing just $30,000 (£22,380) in the US. 

The new pick-up will be similar in size to the existing Ford Ranger, although the two won’t be related under the skin; instead the forthcoming truck will be built on Ford’s new universal electric vehicle platform. Aside from being “faster than a turbocharged Mustang”, we don’t yet know much about the pick-up. Ford hasn’t revealed what it’ll look like or the specification of its technical components, other than the fact that it’ll share nothing with existing Ford models. 

This fresh start has allowed Ford to revolutionise the way it builds the cars and its batteries. For instance, the company will invest in unicasting technology that’s able to reduce the amount of separate parts in the chassis by 75 per cent, and reduce fasteners and welds by 50 per cent. This is a technique being used by car makers like Tesla and more recently BMW, lowering the cost and complexity of manufacturing. 

Ford will also create a new manufacturing process, after inventing the production line with the Model T 122 years ago. The new car will be built in a tree-like manufacturing process, with substantial sub-assemblies being built on separate lines before joining up at the end for final assembly. Ford is hoping this new way of building cars won’t just be relevant to its US operations, but to all its global manufacturing. 

This innovation also expands to the LFP battery packs, which will be manufactured in a new battery plant in Detroit, with Ford promising that it’ll be able to achieve the same range with one-third less capacity. This has follow-on benefits including less weight, lower material costs and better efficiency. 

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The entire platform is designed to be flexible and practical, but it’ll go beyond just a new pick-up truck. Ford will eventually expand this new architecture to include a number of family SUVs, crossovers and commercial vans. If you’re in the market for a pick-up, or any electric car, check out the Auto Express Find A Car for all the latest deals.

The US brand will also integrate V2H (vehicle-to-home connection), which will be able to power your home in a black-out for up to six days from the car’s battery. This might be a niche benefit for somewhere like the UK, but is an increasingly important benefit to customers in the US. 

Ford hasn’t confirmed if or when any or all of these new models will be available in the UK and Europe, but given that they will all run an electric powertrain, it’s not out of the question for Ford to sell its new generation of electric models here. Even if the specific models don’t make it over, it would be foolish not to apply the same innovative thinking and execution to its European operations.

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