As Ford Authority reported back in early February, The Blue Oval is shifting its focus away from pricier, more luxurious EVs and instead focusing on developing smaller, cheaper all-electric models. In fact, the automaker has secretly been working on a low-cost Ford EV for a couple of years now via a skunkworks project spearheaded by a former Tesla executive, which may use the Ford Escape as something of a template. Details regarding this new, cheap Ford EV have thus far proven to be scant – including what sort of price point the automaker may be targeting. Now, a new report from Bloomberg is potentially shedding some light on that situation, however.
According to an unnamed source, less than 100 people are currently working on this low-cost Ford EV project, which will utilize a brand new dedicated platform. However, that platform won’t just underpin one affordable EV – but rather, a compact SUV, a small pickup, and possibly even another model that could be used for ride-sharing purposes. The first of these new Ford EV models is slated to launch in late 2026 with a price tag of around $25,000.
At first, these cheap EVs will reportedly utilize a lithium-iron phosphate battery due to the fact that this chemistry is around 30 percent cheaper than a lithium-ion unit, but Ford is reportedly looking at other types of battery tech in an effort to further reduce costs.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has made it quite clear as of late that the automaker is focused on making cheaper all-electric vehicles, and this shift in strategy is happening for a couple of very good reasons. For starters, pricing disparities between EVs and ICE vehicles remain one of the biggest barriers standing in the way of widespread adoption, and cheap Chinese EVs remain a real potential threat to the automaker’s business, too, as one – the BYD Seagull – was recently highlighted by Farley as a bigger problem for the company than government mandates, in fact.
We’ll have more on these future Ford EV models soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.
Which could have a massive impact on the economy.
This time, likely due to human error.
A very nice example of the early model.
The family-friendly pony car has remained a hot rumor for years.
Joining the Puma Gen-E in that regard.
Shame this never made it to production.
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Bring back the electfic Focus and make an electric Fiesta.
Last year the auto industry sold about 1.2 million sub compacts total in the U.S. Dose that look like what the consumer wants ????
No, but don't tell Farley and Barra that.
If it doesn't have at least a 300 mile range standard then it's a fail.
Understand that comment if you have only one car, but that's usually not the case with EV. Most use the EV around town (and charge at home) and then still have an ICE or PHEV for the occasional road trip. I am one of those. In that instance...again, depending on price..240-250 plenty. It's about price.
Exactly. I bought a Toyota bZ4X and I am so glad I did the All-Electric choice. Being retired, I might drive 5,ooo miles per year. You won't know until you make the change but I wish I had bought a BEV sooner. Quiet, smooth, no petroleum stench or deadly fumes, alot cheaper to operate. Once you make the change, you will see and know.
step 1 take EV Puma
step 2 rebadge it something like "Electrosport"
step 3 profit
Ford better hurry. China is running the EV game right now. One EV offering I'd love to see is a re-introduced mid-size sedan called the Taurus, but right now, the most important things that Ford provide ASAP are a compact car EV that is priced sub-$20k that is also backed by a robust warranty that will help young buyers pull the trigger.
Doing these two things will bring a ton of first- and second-time car buyers (who may be buying their first "new" car) into the Blue Oval before China snatches the market. Fully committing to this and providing long-term support for this program will pay long-term dividends for Ford as the consumers transition to the EV side.
There's a massive group of young consumers in America that cannot afford to live alone, let alone have a big monthly car payment and they may not have the credit (yet) anyway. Furthermore, these young consumers that use TikTok are not loyal to anything but one thing: best price. Help these kids out! Encourage them to pump TikTok with a bunch of pro-Ford content and reward them for it!
If Ford can make cars affordable again, like Henry Ford originally did, this would be a major win for Ford that would continue to solidify the brand decades and decades later.