Ford is preparing a lower-cost electric truck after its battery-powered version of the F-Series failed to deliver the market breakthrough the company wanted, according to The Verge. The first vehicle in the new plan is expected to be a $30,000 electric truck, due to be revealed in 2027.
The move centers on Ford’s Universal Electric Vehicle Platform, which the company is using as the basis for a family of cheaper electric vehicles. The Verge reports that Ford plans to build those vehicles at its Kentucky assembly plant.
The pitch is not just price. Ford is trying to engineer the truck for efficiency and profit, two things that have been hard to keep in the same sentence for legacy automakers selling EVs. The company has struggled to make its electric models profitable, and The Verge reports that Ford took a $19.5 billion hit on EV investments in 2025.
A smaller truck, and a narrower target
The first vehicle from the platform appears to be aimed well below the scale of the F-150 Lightning. A heavily camouflaged version of the coming truck has already been seen in public, according to The Verge, with observers saying it looks smaller than Ford’s Maverick compact pickup.
That size matters. Ford executives have said oversized EVs have “no path to profitability,” according to The Verge. Large electric trucks need large batteries, and batteries remain one of the costliest parts of the vehicle. A smaller truck gives Ford a more plausible route to lower price, lower weight and better efficiency, assuming the company can deliver the thing at the claimed price.
The reset also says something blunt about the Lightning. Ford put an electric drivetrain into its most famous truck line, but that did not solve the economics of selling a big electric pickup. The company is now going back to platform design, manufacturing process and vehicle size rather than treating the EV transition as a badge swap.
Ford still wants EVs, just cheaper ones
The Verge reports that Ford still sees EVs as part of its future, even as it changes the kind of EVs it wants to build. Recent reporting from the outlet has also described Ford’s work on low-cost EV development, its interest in hybrids and energy storage, and CEO Jim Farley’s focus on a $30,000 EV.
There are still large gaps. Ford has not revealed the production version of the truck, and public sightings of camouflaged prototypes do not confirm final dimensions, range, battery size or equipment. The 2027 reveal gives Ford time to refine the vehicle, and plenty of time for battery costs, tariffs and competitors to change the math.
For buyers, the practical question is whether Ford can ship an electric truck near $30,000 without making it feel like a compliance car with a bed. For Ford, the harder question is whether it can sell that truck at a profit. The company’s new EV strategy depends on both answers being yes.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
