Ford’s $30,000 Electric Truck Is Real and Here’s Proof of Life

Spy shots of Ford’s upcoming $30,000 electric pickup emerged online last week via our friends at The Autopian, reaffirming that the vehicle the company itself has billed as its next “Model T moment” is on track for a debut next year. Now, Ford is adding further fuel to the fire with a new microsite that shows a video of the pickup undergoing cold-weather testing and a behind-the-scenes look at its design process.

To recap, the yet-unnamed battery-electric truck will be the first product to ride on Ford’s Universal EV Platform, a skateboard architecture that should support many different kinds of vehicles beyond a pickup with a bed. Ford is also leveraging “unicasting” technology to reduce the number of parts in the final product.

In one video hosted on the site, a Ford prototype assembly employee gives us a peek at the front of the truck being bolted onto the chassis, saying that in his 27 years of building Dearborn’s prototypes, “nothing has gone together as easily as this.”

The Universal EV Production System, as it’s been dubbed, will unite the front, rear, and chassis/battery sections to ideally enable more modular, efficient production. And it won’t be the only form of clever consolidation to maximize manufacturing versatility, as the wiring harness, for example, will apparently “be more than 4,000 feet shorter and 22 pounds lighter” than the equivalent part in the Mustang Mach-E.

The EV will use a lithium-iron-phosphate battery and a 400-volt charging system, according to details Ford shared last year. 400-volt systems don’t charge as quickly as 800-volt ones, but they do have the upside of lower cost and wider charging support. The truck is also said to have interior volume comparable to that of a Toyota RAV4 and the ability to sprint from 0-60 mph as quickly as an EcoBoost Mustang, in 4.5 seconds. Ford is building the electric motor in-house, and there will be single- and dual-motor options available—which means that the cheapest, $30K trim will be a two-wheel-drive affair.

As for the truck’s design, it appears to be final in Ford’s own footage, judging from the complete camouflage and smooth appearance of the body. Still, we can tell that the side profile features a high beltline and a relaxed rake of the windshield to reduce air resistance and improve efficiency, which is especially important for electric vehicles. The X-shaped wheels are also a cool touch.

Ford tells us to watch the microsite for updates as it wraps up development of the pickup, ahead of a reveal later this year before an on-sale date in 2027. The automaker certainly isn’t afraid of building hype with its “Model T moment” claims; we’ll just have to see if the final product lives up to them.

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