Ford teases an electric pickup for $30,000
Ford is developing a mid-sized electric pickup with an estimated price of $30,000, which will be the first model on the new Universal Electric Vehicle Platform (UEV). The company has not yet disclosed the design and specifications, but it has shown several photos of the production process.
What's known
The main feature of the future pickup is the radical reduction in production cost. Ford CEO Jim Farley stated that large aluminum unicastings will be used for the first time on the UEV platform. They replace more than 146 separate parts with just two elements and allow the use of a new "tree assembly" method, in which the car is assembled from several large modules.
Similar solutions were previously implemented by Tesla in the Model Y, and now other car manufacturers are adopting them. Ford claims that the future pickup will have 20% fewer parts and 25% less fasteners compared to other modern cars.
An emphasis is placed on aerodynamics. The company believes that even a slight reduction in air resistance directly reduces battery cost and increases efficiency.
For Ford, this project is critically important, as after dropping several previous EV programs, the UEV platform should provide the company with a competitive electric future.
Source: InsideEVs
