"The electric car transition isn't going great for America's domestic automakers, but it's far from over. Ford may have ended production of the full-size F-150 Lightning pickup truck, but next year, it will debut a new "Universal EV Platform," beginning with a midsize truck that it says will start at a much more reasonable $30,000, should all go to plan. The company seems serious about the idea, having created an internal "skunkworks" several years ago to design this new affordable platform from first principles."
"A few years ago, Ford and its crosstown rival bet that full-size pickup truck customers would be wowed enough by instant torque and minuscule running costs to overlook how towing heavily diminished range. They created electric versions of their best-selling behemoths, packed with clever features like power sockets for job sites and the ability to power a home during an emergency."
"Meanwhile, Ford appears to have been listening. Instead of making a full-size pickup with a starting price north of $60,000, it's aiming to produce something more midsized (more interior space than a Toyota RAV4, it says), starting at half that. And it will only succeed if it can get away with using a smaller battery than you'd find between the frame rails of an F-150 Lightning. About 40 percent of the vehicle cost is battery, Ford says."
Ford plans a midsize electric pickup on a new Universal EV Platform aimed to start around $30,000. An internal skunkworks designed the platform from first principles to reduce component count and energy use. The strategy emphasizes a smaller, less expensive battery because batteries account for about 40 percent of vehicle cost. Previous bets on full-size electric pickups failed as towing reduced range and high prices deterred buyers, costing Ford nearly $20 billion. The new midsize truck targets more interior space than a Toyota RAV4 while cutting price roughly in half compared with full-size electric pickups.
Read at Ars Technica
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