Ford has announced a USD5 billion (around RM21 billion) investment in a new electric vehicle platform and production system. Drawing inspiration from the revolutionary Model T and its assembly line, the company aims to reinvent manufacturing with a simpler, more efficient, and more flexible ecosystem capable of producing a family of affordable, high-tech EVs.
Dubbed the “Universal EV Platform”, this new platform is set to debut in a mid-sized four-door pickup with a targeted starting price of roughly USD30,000 (approx. RM127k) as early as 2027. Ford says that the platform can reduce parts usage up to 20%, have 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer workstations, and 15% faster assembly time.
The new EV truck will also require 4,000 feet (1.3 km) less wiring harness and save over 10 kg compared to those used in Ford’s first-generation electric SUVs. All in all, Ford claims the truck will deliver a lower five-year cost of ownership than a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y.
The usage of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic batteries saves space and weight while cutting costs and improving durability. The cobalt- and nickel-free pack forms part of the vehicle’s floor, with Ford claiming the truck will be “as fast as a Mustang EcoBoost” and boast “more passenger space than the latest Toyota RAV4 – with a frunk and a bed”.
Paired with the new platform, Ford’s “Universal EV Production System” is described as an “assembly tree” with three parallel sub-assemblies responsible for the front, the rear, and the structural battery. Once ready, the sub-assemblies will join together where the final assembly will be carried out.
Ford says this process is expected to make the new EV truck 40% faster to build than the current process, with saved time reinvested in insourcing and automation for a further 15% speed improvement.
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To make all of this possible, Ford is spending USD2 billion (approx. RM8.5 billion) of the total five-billion budget in its Louisville Assembly Plant to assemble the midsize electric truck. The plant will see a 52,000 square foot expansion and new digital infrastructure to give it “the fastest network with the most access points out of any Ford plant globally, enabling more quality scans.”
The rest of the USD3 billion (approx. RM12.7 billion) will be further invested in the BlueOval Battery Park in Michigan, where the company will build the prismatic LFP batteries for the midsize electric truck starting next year.
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Ford President and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Farley, said, “We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters – design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership – and do it with American workers.”
“We have all lived through far too many ‘good college tries’ by Detroit automakers to make affordable vehicles that end up with idled plants, layoffs, and uncertainty. So, this had to be a strong, sustainable, and profitable business. From day one, we knew there was no incremental path to success. We empowered a tiny skunkworks team three time zones away from Detroit. We tore up the moving assembly line concept and designed a better one. And we found a path to be the first carmaker to make prismatic LFP batteries in the US,” he added.
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