Ford announced it will retool its Louisville Assembly Plant to focus on electric trucks. Its goal: to bring down prices for U.S. buyers and compete with Chinese EV makers on the global market.
Ford is making a multibillion-dollar bet on electric vehicles.
At the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky on Monday morning, Ford executives announced that they plan to retool the factory so they can roll out a midsize pickup truck in the $30,000 range within 18 months.
That would be not just cheap for an electric vehicle but competitively priced for a truck — period. Ford’s own electric F-150 Lightning and the Chevrolet Silverado EV both start at around $50,000. Among their competitors, the Tesla Cybertruck starts at more than $62,000, and the cheapest Rivian is more than $70,000. On the gas side, meanwhile, the midsize, gas-powered Ford Ranger starts at $35,000.
This isn’t the first time Ford has bet big on EVs. The Lightning, a splashy full-size pickup, was an ambitious vehicle when it debuted in 2022, but Ford has never managed to make money on it. It’s a similar story with the Mustang Mach-E. Plans for a big electric SUV spluttered to a stop in 2024.
Now Ford is pivoting toward slightly smaller, significantly cheaper EVs — and doing so right as the U.S. EV industry is facing significant headwinds, including the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back policies that promote EVs and fight climate change in general.
At Monday’s event, Ford executives didn’t make the case that the future is clean or green or eco-conscious. Instead, one word ruled the day: affordable.
This has long been the goal for a number of automakers: a truly affordable EV — one that competes with gas cars when it comes to the upfront sticker price, without factoring in government subsidies or the savings from gasoline. And, no small detail, it has to be profitable for companies, too.
Chinese automakers have cracked this code, and Western automakers are painfully aware of the need to catch up. Tesla’s been teasing a cheaper vehicle for years, and CEO Elon Musk says it’s actually coming this year. Chevrolet is on the verge of bringing back the bargain-priced Chevy Bolt.
And at the $30,000 price point, Ford thinks it can unlock a wide range of buyers who aren’t tempted by the pricier EVs available right now. «It is a radically better proposition for some customers, who charge at home, don’t go long distances, less than 300 miles», CEO Jim Farley told reporters after the event.
