Ford’s Universal Electric Vehicle is taking shape.
The automaker is tirelessly working on a new low-cost EV platform it’s planning to launch in 2027. The vehicle is being engineered with simplicity and efficiency in mind and will be manufactured at Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky.
The first model built on the platform is set to be a small pickup that’s similar in size to a Ford Maverick and slated to have a starting price in the $30,000 to $35,000 range. Ford has only shown bits and pieces of it so far, but a new image included in a video posted to social media by CEO Jim Farley reveals more of the overall design.
“Ford isn’t backing away from EVs, we’re democratizing them. Winning this race requires chasing physics, not building bigger batteries. That’s why we developed our Universal Electric Vehicle Platform,” Farley said in the post.
“In a few days we’ll share a peek at some of the efficiency innovations that make UEV one of the most important projects in Ford history.”
The clip teases a behind the scenes video called “Ford Bounty Hunters: The Pursuit of Efficiency” that Ford is releasing on Feb. 17 at 11 a.m. ET. One shot in it shows a computer rendering of aerodynamic streamlines following the contours of the pickup’s body, which is transparent. Up front, the curves resemble those seen in a previous photo of the vehicle hidden under a sheet, which suggest its front end styling is inspired by the Mustang, much like the Mustang Mach-E SUV.
Further back, the lines suggest there may be a small buttress connecting the roof of the cabin to the top of the bed sides, as seen on the Chevrolet Silverado EV, although Ford tends to keep its pickup beds conventionally shaped to improve their utility for commercial applications. The Ford Maverick Hybrid, for instance, has vertical rear roofline with just the bottom corner between it and the top of the bed cut at a 45-degree angle.
The video also shows some of the UEV’s chassis, which will utilize large “unicasatings” at the front and rear to reduce the amount of parts needed, which is another cost-cutting measure that speeds up the manufacturing and assembly processes.
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The final name and specifications for the UEV-based pickup haven’t been confirmed, but Ford said it will have a lockable bed, a frunk storage compartment, a cabin that’s roomier than a Toyota Rav4’s and be able to accelerate to 60 mph quicker than a Mustang EcoBoost, which puts it in the five-second range.
