Ford announces its new Universal Electric Vehicle Platform for future EVs, declaring it a new ‘Model T’ moment in the quest for affordable EVs.
Ford hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with its electric car offerings, with the Mustang Mach-E falling well short of expectations, the Puma Electric a bit of a bodge job and the Capri and Explorer basically VWs in Ford clothing.
Now, Ford is coming out fighting on the EV front, announcing a new Universal EV Platform designed to slash manufacturing costs and able to underpin everything from a Hatch to a Pick-up to CVs.
Ford’s pitch promises the first vehicle to be built on the new EV Platform will be an electric Pick-up about the size of the Ranger and expected to cost from around £22k when it arrives in 2027.
The new Ford Platform will be assembled on a new production line with a ‘Three Tree’ assembly setup with three production lines merging in to a single final assembly line regardless of models, and utilise ‘Unicasting’ to create big complex structures in one go to cut costs, and cut production time by 40%.
The new EVs will come with prismatic lithium-ion Phosphate batteries as part of the structure, promising more range and lower weight for more cost savings, and with battery production in the US.
Clearly, all this is designed to feed the American market, but assuming all goes to plan it’s going to get rolled out globally, which should make it viable to come up with an electric replacement for the Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus at sensible and profitable prices.
