Small EVs are a big market abroad—a stark contrast to the gigantic offerings like the Ford F-150 Lightning and the plethora of electric SUVs that are prevalent in the U.S. But the small EV market here is growing, and Ford is getting in on the action. The automaker is pivoting to smaller—and cheaper—electric vehicles.
Ford CEO Jim Farley first revealed the pivot on an earnings call in early February. “We made a bet in silence two years ago,” he said, according to MotorTrend, revealing that a skunk works team acting as a startup began working on a low-cost EV back then, in order to better compete with electric vehicles from Chinese automakers.
Now, there are more details on just how affordable those new Ford EVs will be: Bloomberg Businessweek reported this week that the first model will arrive in late 2026, starting around $25,000. (The F-150 Lightning starts at $54,995, while Ford’s electric SUV, the Mustang Mach-E, starts around $43,000.)
Ford is working on its small EVs through a “specialized team” that is based in Irvine, California, Bloomberg reports. That team—made up of fewer than 100 people—is led by Alan Clarke, who was previously at Tesla for 12 years. There, he led the engineering of the Model Y, the company’s top seller; Clarke moved to Ford in 2022.
The compact EVs for Ford will be powered by a “lithium iron phosphate battery, which is about 30% cheaper than traditional lithium-ion batteries,” according to Bloomberg, noting that the company is continuing to explore even cheaper battery tech.
“All of our EV teams are ruthlessly focused on cost and efficiency in our EV products, because the ultimate competition is going to be the affordable Tesla and the Chinese OEMs [original equipment manufacturers],” Farley said on the February analyst call. Tesla is also working on a cheaper EV, which is also expected to go for $25,000. Tesla CEO Elon Musk first mentioned that goal in 2020; now, he’s said that the cheaper model will launch in 2025.
Ford. The same company that decided to stop making sedans a couple of years ago. Make up your damned minds and stop flailing around.
It doesn’t say compact car, just compact. Probably Escape (Focus size) or Ecosport (Fiesta size). Between CAFE having different, lower requirements for “light trucks” (such as the PT cruiser) and other fed regs saying ground clearance is all you need to get other lower reqs for being an “offroad-capable” vehicle, I doubt it’s coming as a car. Maybe a lifted Focus, a la Subaru Crosstrek being a lifted Impreza, will be the ultimate taunt.
Probably not escape size. I have an escape and a MachE(their electric compact SUV). They’re about the same size in terms of capacity. In fact the escape may have a bit more height to it on the inside.
That’s reasonable, but maybe it could be a styling difference. The Edge really doesn’t need to exist functionally, slotted so tightly between the Escape and Explorer. The Edge does have a bulkier presence than the Escape, but the interior doesn’t really make as much use of that volume as it could. It does have better rear seating and a slightly deeper trunk area, but the slope cuts into the trunk area. I worked at a dealer and it seemed people were more interested in the looks to decide between the two rather than stats. That being said, I’m not gonna be mad if it’s a relatively cheap EVoSport or whatever other dumb name they have on deck.
Same here. A small crossover with good range and inexpensive would be great. I frankly don’t care much who makes them - it takes one OEM to be successful to cause the others to follow.
Thinking on this again, since a reply brought me back, I could actually see it coming in as a compact car. Make-beleive trucks sell so damn well that I’m not positive it won’t be a tippy Fiesta, but I’m sure the stricter efficiency requirements on cars compared to “trucks” was a driving factor of eliminating sedans. Those rules wouldn’t (yet) apply to EVs
I’m amazed no one has brought back the El Camino style truck/sedan as an EV.
That would be useful, but I think there’s issues with single grow seating vehicles. Anything imported gets a higher tax rate, even for domestic companies. Going back, that’s why the Subaru Brat had bed seats. Ford’s Turkish Transit Connects came through the port with laughable rear seats and windowed rear doors that got removed and scrapped once stateside. Chicken tax. I’m not sure if it counts for Mexico assembly, but I thought that’s why the Maverick is only a 4-door with a short bed. Truck-like ground clearance and steep approach angles (making it an offroad capable vehicle) also gets a lower fuel economy bracket, which has been a driving factor for crossover prevalence. That’s why we have Lexus crossovers with overbite. I’d certainly consider an EV Camino for commute/building runs, but I’m guessing the main Camino demographic would only want a new Camino to be a 1976 body with a modern V8 and no electronics