Ford's Ambitious New Electric Vehicle Plan Starts With A $30k Midsize Pickup

Ford is gearing up to conquer the electric vehicle market with a $5 billion investment in the Louisville Assembly. The new production line will focus on more efficient lithium iron phosphate batteries and, more excitingly, a midsize electric pickup truck that will hit the market in 2027 if Ford plays all of its cards right. While the name of the truck hasn't been announced yet, and no images have been released, the targeted specifications are something to take notice of. 

A press release states that the new truck, as part of its new "Ford Universal EV Platform," has a "targeted starting price of about $30,000," and will be "as fast as a Mustang EcoBoost" while also featuring "More passenger space than the latest Toyota RAV4." Those figures are quite the benchmarks. For comparison, the EcoBoost-powered Mustang has a 0-60 time of around 4.5 seconds when tested by reviewers. The Toyota Rav4, on the other hand, has a listed passenger volume of 98.9 cubic feet. 

There's more good news: The investment also comes with a number of new jobs or continuations of existing jobs at the plant, to the tune of almost 4,000. Ford is making serious steps towards being a competitor in the electric vehicle market, even going as far as taking a shot at Tesla in the press release, noting that the upcoming electric truck will be cheaper to own than a used Tesla Model Y. Although this is changing, the Model Y is still one of the most popular EVs on the road, and it would be to Ford's benefit to go right for the top.

There are a lot of unknowns about the new Ford model (and subsequent models built on the same platform), but, if all goes according to plan, it will be more efficiently produced than the BlueOval's EVs of the past; and it will be enormously practical for the driver. To visualize the new yet-unnamed model, the mid-size classification means it will be closer in size to the existing Ford Ranger and likely bigger than the Ford Maverick. Price-wise, it will sit under the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning. Until Ford unveils the new truck, exact specifications are anyone's guess, but given the targets, it could be a mass market success.