Ford announces new Universal EV Platform and plant

$5bn investment brings thousands of jobs, new range of vehicles kicking off with $30k electric pick up

By Matt Bird / Tuesday, 12 August 2025 / Loading comments

It would be reasonable to say that a lot of electric Fords thus far haven’t really hit the mark. Good rather than great would probably be fair. Now the Blue Oval aims to change all that, with an all-new platform and production method for its EVs. The Ford Universal EV platform will spawn a family of vehicles - ‘electric, fun to drive and digitally advanced with over-the-air updates’ - while the Universal EV Production System aims to reduce complexity, weight and cost, while creating or securing thousands of jobs at Louisville and Michigan. Ford is investing $5bn in the project; maybe it’s not make or break just yet, though clearly it’s a massive undertaking.

The car, first off. Because this is a US-centric endeavour for the moment, obviously it’s a pick up, because trucks are huge business. What’s coming is a mid-size, four-door pick up, priced at around $30k and with acceleration comparable to an Ecoboost Mustang. Ford also reckons there’s going to be more passenger space than a Toyota RAV4 (plus a frunk and the load bed), with a lower cost of ownership over five years than a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y. Which sounds quite impressive. And it’s coming as soon as 2027.

We’re all going to be hearing a lot more about the Ford Universal EV Platform over the coming years, set as it is to underpin a whole family of vehicles from trucks to vans to SUVs. It aims to be a lighter, simpler, more efficient EV architecture, saving costs at assembly time as well as on the road. It will use Lithium iron phosphate prismatic batteries, without any cobalt or nickel, and stuffed into a structural sub-assembly batter pack. Ford believes they are the first to make those batteries in the US. CEO Jim Farley has said the Universal EV platform features around 20 per cent fewer parts than a comparable EV, which will help with purchase price; it needs 40 fewer workstations in the factory, too, meaning a 15 per cent faster assembly time, which should mean further savings. Apparently the new truck’s wiring loom is more than 1.3km shorter and 10kg lighter than that used in Ford’s ‘first-gen electric SUV’, which is presumably the Mach E, for some idea of the leap forward to expect.

More than just efficiency however, Ford is promising ‘obsessive chassis engineering’ for this new platform to make it entertaining to drive. It’s going to be built on what Ford is calling an assembly tree (as opposed to a line), with three sub-assemblies running simultaneously and converging at the end. The front of the car is one one, the rear on another (thanks to using big single piece aluminum castings, rather than smaller parts), and they’re going to meet with the structural battery - which is put together with the interior - from the third line. Ford reckons the new Universal EV Production System ‘dramatically improves ergonomics for employees by reducing twisting, reaching and bending, allowing them to focus on the job at hand.’ Interestingly the design has come from a small Ford team on the other side of the US to Detroit, in California, the idea being to foster a start up mentality to solve the problems of production rather than using old ideas from a legacy maker. Ford of course revolutionised the process of making a car with the Model T more than a century ago; that it’s mentioned in the press release would suggest they really think this is a comparable milestone.

It is investing $2bn in Louisville, Kentucky, securing 2,200 jobs there; the $3bn spent in Michigan will get the BlueOval Battery Park up and running to build the batteries; Ford suggests another 2,000 or so roles there will be created or secured, ‘while strengthening the domestic supply chain with dozens of new U.S.-based suppliers.’

Not your average electrification announcement, then - Ford is all in on this. Not before time, either, it might be said, with rivals and start ups having claimed an advantage as Ford has floundered. “We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters – design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership – and do it with American workers,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. That new truck will be here before you know it.