Ford Unveils New Details on Its Cheaper EV Platform

Ford’s first-generation EVs — including the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning pickup — gave the automaker valuable insights into customer preferences and the difficulties of manufacturing EVs from scratch.

The company is now focused on a new Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform built from the ground up by a “skunkworks” team in California. (Photo: Parkway Ford) 

The major challenge for Ford and other non-Tesla automakers was that customer demand fell far short of the excitement levels projected by the industry, Pras Subramanian reported for Yahoo Finance.

Moreover, the costs associated with the program were massive — totaling $19.5 billion in write-offs for Ford. As a result, Ford pivoted its EV strategy, though it is not abandoning electrification.

The company is now focused on a new Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform built from the ground up by a “skunkworks” team in California.

The first product will be a midsize EV pickup priced at around $30,000, targeting profitability from the start.

“We’re still on a really steep decline in EV costs, and you can only get that by innovating. You can only get that by system-level optimization into what eventually becomes a product that a customer wants,” said Ford’s Alan Clarke, who leads the skunkworks team out of Long Beach and is a former longtime Tesla engineer.

Ford said the UEV platform reduces total parts by 20% compared with a typical Ford vehicle program — including 25% fewer fasteners throughout the vehicle.

On the factory floor, Ford eliminated 40% of process workstations compared with current production methods.

Using fewer parts and redesigning the build process results in a truck that is cheaper to manufacture. On the efficiency front, Ford recruited more than half of its UEV aerodynamics team from Formula One racing.

The result, Ford claims, is aerodynamic efficiency more than 15% better than any pickup currently on the market, based on internal testing. Improved aerodynamics means less drag and lower energy consumption, leading to longer driving range — and allowing Ford to use a smaller, lighter battery.