It’s well-established that electric vehicles have far fewer mechanical parts than gas cars, and Ford’s upcoming EV takes that concept to another level.
In August, the Detroit automaker announced plans to launch a $30,000 electric pickup truck built on the new Ford Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) Platform. That’s a shockingly low price tag, especially considering the now-discontinued F-150 Lightning started at $50,000 and pricier trims pushed $100,000.
The new truck will be a four-door, midsize vehicle that fits five passengers. Ford has yet to reveal the juiciest details about the new truck, such as the final price, name, range, and on-sale date. We can expect that later this year.
Meanwhile, Ford is rethinking how it builds electric vehicles. It’s likely a humbling exercise for a well-established brand that’s been operating a certain way for decades. But it’s necessary. Ford has already had to reckon with some knowledge gaps when it comes to EVs. Case in point: the first version of the Mustang Mach-E, a sporty SUV, had about a mile (1.6 km) of unnecessary wiring, CNN reports, which made the car 70 pounds heavier than it needed to be.
Ford engineers working on the UEV underbody. (Credit: Ford)
The UEV platform has 20% fewer parts than “a typical Ford vehicle program,” the company says. It also has 25% fewer fasteners, and 40% fewer workstations on the production line. New single molds known as “unicastings” make up the body of the vehicle. There are just two of these structural components—a dramatic drop from 146 on the Ford Maverick, the company’s most popular midsize truck today.
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“These unicastings make the structure significantly lighter,” Ford tells us. “They also give us a more than 27% advantage in casting weight over our competitors that have done similar unicastings.”
Ford lists the 2022 Tesla Model Y as its benchmark here; its Cybertruck also has an innovative single “gigacasting,” as Tesla calls it. Clearly, Ford is taking a cue from Tesla, but it needs to continue refining its battery-powered products, especially to compete in Europe and other regions where EVs are booming, despite a recent slowdown in the US.
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The reduced parts are delightfully simple, and likely to reduce everyday maintenance for EV drivers, but the real cost savings comes from the battery. Batteries make up 40% of an EV’s cost and around 25% of their weight, Ford tells us. Its UEV platform will run on a more affordable pack with a chemistry known as LFP. It will likely suffice for most everyday drivers, but lose range faster in cold weather and when towing, based on what Ford has told us in the past. That being said, there has been significant innovation with LFPs, and it remains to be seen if Ford can overcome these hurdles, especially since towing is a key function for any pickup truck.
Also coming to the next-gen EVs is advanced self-driving technology. At CES 2026, Ford teased the next generation of its BlueCruise ADAS technology. “We plan to introduce new hardware and software, thanks to our in-house teams, starting in 2027 on our all-new, affordable Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform,” says Doug Field, Ford’s chief EV, digital and design officer. In 2028, it plans to launch a fully hands-off, Level 3 system, though presumably as a limited release.
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