Ford provides more details on new EV platform and $30,000 electric truck

Ford Motor Company on Tuesday outlined new details of its Universal Electric Vehicle platform, a next-generation architecture the automaker says will underpin a family of affordable battery-powered vehicles beginning with a mid-size pickup targeted to start at about $30,000 when it launches in 2027.

The company said the new platform and accompanying production system are designed to simplify manufacturing, reduce parts count, and improve overall vehicle efficiency, thereby lowering costs and reducing reliance on large battery packs.

Executives confirmed the program during an Aug. 11, 2025, event at Louisville Assembly Plant and expanded on the strategy during CES 2026 in Las Vegas.

Fewer parts, simplified assembly

Ford said the Universal EV platform reduces parts by 20% compared with a typical current Ford vehicle program and uses 25% fewer fasteners. The production system cuts 40% of mainline dock-to-dock workstations, a move the company said will improve safety, quality, and throughput.

The first vehicle built on the platform will be a four-door, five-passenger mid-size electric pickup assembled in Louisville. It will use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells produced at Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan facility in Marshall, Michigan.

Ford said the truck is expected to offer more passenger volume than a 2025 Toyota RAV4, along with both a front trunk and a traditional pickup bed. The automaker also claimed a 0-60 mph acceleration time up to two seconds quicker than the Subaru BRZ, Ford Maverick, and Hyundai Santa Cruz.

Final specifications, including EPA-estimated range, battery capacity, and charging times, have not yet been released.

Smaller battery, higher efficiency

Central to the platform strategy is a focus on reducing battery size rather than increasing it. Ford executives said the battery accounts for more than 40% of an EV’s total cost and roughly 25% of its weight. Instead of adding capacity to extend range, the company said it concentrated on improving efficiency across the vehicle.

The automaker described an internal engineering framework known as “bounties,” which assigns measurable cost and range impacts to design trade-offs. For example, increasing roof height by 1 millimeter would add $1.30 in battery cost or reduce range by 0.055 miles, according to the company.

Ford said the approach aligns engineering teams around shared goals tied directly to battery size and range, rather than allowing separate departments to optimize components in isolation.

Electrical architecture and in-house development

In 2023, Ford moved the development of high-voltage power electronics for the platform in-house. The company said the change allows it to integrate hardware and software more tightly, including bi-directional charging capabilities and improved battery management.

The platform introduces a new 48-volt low-voltage system and a zonal electrical architecture that consolidates more than 30 traditional electronic control units into five main modules. Ford also said it combined several major power-electronics functions into a single, compact Energy Management Unit.

As part of that consolidation, the company said the new mid-size electric truck’s wiring harness is more than 4,000 feet shorter and 22 pounds lighter than the harness used in one of its first-generation electric SUVs.

Aerodynamic emphasis

Ford said more than half of the aerodynamics team working on the new truck previously worked in Formula 1, and the company adopted a race-inspired development cycle that uses wind tunnel testing early in the design process.

Engineers built modular test vehicles with 3D-printed components that could be swapped in minutes, allowing thousands of iterations during development. Testing was conducted on a steel treadmill synchronized to air speeds of 87 mph to simulate real-world conditions.

The company said the truck is projected to achieve more than 15% better aerodynamic efficiency than any pickup currently on the market, based on internal testing.

Among the changes cited were a sculpted roofline that creates what engineers call a “virtual surface” over the truck bed, reducing airflow separation; redesigned exterior mirrors that shrink the housing by more than 20% and add an estimated 1.5 miles of range; and underbody modifications that guide airflow around the front tires to reduce drag at the rear, contributing an estimated 4.5 miles of additional range.

Ford said that if the same battery pack was paired with the aerodynamics of what it described as the most aerodynamically efficient mid-size gas truck in the United States, the new electric truck would deliver nearly 50 miles, or about 15%, more driving range. The company also projected a 30% improvement at highway speeds.

Manufacturing and materials

The platform uses what Ford calls a “unicasting” approach, reducing the front and rear structural assemblies to just two large cast components. By comparison, the current Ford Maverick uses 146 structural parts in those areas, according to the company.

Ford said the unicastings provide a more than 27% casting weight advantage compared with competitors that have adopted similar methods.

The LFP battery chemistry eliminates nickel and cobalt, which Ford said lowers material costs. The company selected a prismatic cell format and a “cell-to-structure” design that integrates the battery into the truck’s structural architecture.

Next-generation driver assistance

At CES 2026, Ford said it will launch a next-generation advanced driver assistance system on the Universal EV platform in 2027. The automaker said the system will deliver higher capability at 30% lower cost and is expected to enable public road-ready Level 3 “eyes-off” driving in 2028.

Ford has not announced the truck’s official name, reveal date, or on-sale timing beyond the 2027 launch target.

Executives positioned the Universal EV platform as a long-term foundation for multiple vehicles and said further details will be released closer to production.