Last week, a report surfaced that Ford had opted to cancel its next-generation FNV4 (fully-networked vehicle) electrical architecture, a decision that was reportedly made amid soaring costs and delays. However, The Blue Oval later reached out to Ford Authority to explain that it wasn’t merely canceling this program, but rather, merging that particular effort with its existing, evolving architecture, while also developing a separate architecture that will be utilized in the company’s forthcoming low-cost EVs riding on a new platform in development by its skunkworks team. Now, Ford EV design head Doug Field is providing a bit more info on that pivot.
“Here’s our plan: We made the decision to take our future-state software project, which we internally call FNV4, and merge it with a program that evolves our existing architecture, called FNV3. This evolving version is called FNV3.X. We’re going to invest in and build on this architecture across a full portfolio of vehicles – not only electric vehicles and F-150s, but Mustangs, Broncos, Rangers, Transit Vans, and more.” Field pointed out that at least part of this decision stems from slower than expected growth in terms of EV demand, making it less viable to develop multiple platforms for multiple products, as well as far more complex and costly.
“Having a small number of core platforms is a key part of any software-driven engineering team,” Field said. “Without platforms, software engineers face having to re-develop the same features for different customers and vehicles. And we want our Ford digital experience to be recognizable whether you’re in a Bronco or a Mustang Mach-E or an F-150 with a snowplow attached. Having a new electrical architecture on some vehicles and a legacy architecture on other vehicles and maintaining them all at the same time, is not a good strategy for this new world.
“Our team is unified in the conviction that this is the right path for Ford and our customers,” Field added. “By converging on one architecture shared across all powertrains, we can deliver the latest technology and experiences to many, many more of our customers – those who have kept Ford going for more than 120 years. That said, we will not be on the sidelines of what can be done on a next-generation, ground-up electric vehicle. Our electric vehicle ‘skunkworks’ project is moving full speed ahead to show what we can do when we start with a clean sheet software and electrical architecture.”
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