Ford is rethinking its long-term EV plan…namely to pivot away from more big EVs.
On Monday, Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley announced a “customer-driven shift to create a stronger, more resilient and more profitable” company. How does it plan to do that? As part of its latest pivot, it will move to “higher-return opportunities”, taking a $19.5 billion hit in the process as it reprioritizes production away from large electric vehicles.
Broadly speaking, Ford is stepping away from models like the battery-powered F-150 Lightning. Instead, the next-generation model will become a range-extended electric vehicle (REEV), like the Ram 1500 REV. The automaker also seems to be following more or less in Stellantis’ path on this one, as the fully electric Ram pickup is also officially dead.
Ford also plans to cancel its electric successor to the E-Transit commercial van. Instead, a new and more affordable van, backed by internal combustion and hybrid models, will launch from the Ohio plant that builds the E-Series in 2029.
Overall, Ford is shifting its focus to the new Universal EV platform, from which it already announced a midsize truck will emerge from the Louisville, Kentucky assembly plant in 2027. That new focus will also expand to include passenger car models, as well, as Ford plans to bring “five new affordable vehicles” to market by the end of the decade. Of those models, Ford says four of them will be assembled in the United States, as well. Nearly every vehicle in the range, will feature “multi-energy” powertrain options by 2030.
This plan, Ford claims, will help up its global sales share for electrified vehicles (hybrids, extended-range hybrids and full EVs) to 50%, up from 17% today. The move may also bring the company’s “Model e” electric division to profitability by 2029.
The automaker also announced plans to bring battery energy storage into the mix. That repurposes former electric vehicle battery capacity from vehicles toward static energy storage. It plans to drop $2 billion into that initiative in the next two years. In addition to the Kentucky battery plants, Ford plans to utilize its new BlueOval Battery Park in Marshall, Michigan to build smaller units for residential energy storage solutions.
