Ford's Next-Gen EVs Will Cost Less — But Don't Expect Them to Shrink

Affordable Does Not Mean Compact

When automakers talk about making electric vehicles more affordable, consumers often assume that means smaller cars. The logic seems intuitive: less material, smaller battery, lower price. But Ford is charting a different course with its next generation of EVs, one that aggressively cuts costs through engineering innovation while keeping vehicle dimensions firmly in the full-size category that American buyers overwhelmingly prefer.

The company has announced plans for at least five new EVs built on a universal electric platform, with the first and most prominent being a midsize electric pickup truck. Ford has set an ambitious target of pricing these vehicles under $40,000 by 2030, a figure that would represent a significant step toward mainstream EV affordability. But achieving that price point is coming through smarter engineering, not smaller footprints.

The Battery Equation

Batteries currently represent nearly 40 percent of an electric vehicle's manufacturing cost, making them the single largest lever for reducing the overall price tag. Ford's strategy centers on Lithium-Iron Phosphate cells, commonly known as LFP batteries, which will be produced at the Blue Oval Battery Park near Marshall, Michigan.

LFP chemistry offers several advantages over the nickel-manganese-cobalt cells used in many current EVs. The raw materials are significantly cheaper and more abundant, the cells are more thermally stable, and they tolerate being charged to 100 percent without the degradation concerns that affect other chemistries. The tradeoff is energy density: LFP cells are physically larger and heavier for the same amount of stored energy, which is precisely why Ford's cheaper EVs will not be getting smaller.

To package larger, heavier battery packs while still delivering competitive range, Ford needs the physical space that full-size vehicle platforms provide. The company is targeting approximately 300 miles of range, a figure that executives characterize as reflecting customer expectations. Achieving that number with LFP cells requires a battery pack that simply would not fit in a subcompact vehicle without unacceptable compromises to cabin space or cargo capacity.

Eliminating Parts Through Integration

Ford's cost reduction strategy extends far beyond battery chemistry. The company has embraced a design philosophy built around two principles: "The best part is no part" and "The second-best part is one that performs multiple functions." These mantras are driving a systematic effort to reduce the total number of components in each vehicle while making the remaining parts work harder.

One of the most visible examples is a completely re-engineered side mirror assembly. Rather than the traditional multi-component design involving a housing, glass element, adjustment motor, heating element, turn signal light, and various mounting brackets, Ford's new approach integrates these functions into a single unit. The result is fewer parts, lower assembly costs, reduced frontal drag area, and a measurable improvement in aerodynamic efficiency that translates directly to better range.

Structural components are receiving similar treatment. Ford is adopting large casting techniques, an approach pioneered by Tesla and now being embraced by Rivian and Polestar as well. These mega-castings replace dozens of individual stamped and welded parts with single large aluminum components, dramatically reducing the number of assembly steps, joints, and fasteners required. Each eliminated part removes associated costs for tooling, inventory management, quality inspection, and assembly labor.

Rewiring the Electrical Brain

Perhaps the most technically significant innovation in Ford's next-generation platform is its zonal electrical architecture. Traditional vehicles use a distributed system where dozens of individual electronic control units, each dedicated to a specific function like window controls, seat adjustment, or lighting, are scattered throughout the vehicle and connected by miles of wiring harness.

Ford's new approach replaces this sprawling network with a small number of powerful master processing units organized by physical zone within the vehicle. A single zonal controller might handle all functions in the front-left quarter of the vehicle: door locks, windows, mirrors, lights, and sensors. This consolidation eliminates thousands of feet of copper wiring and dozens of individual control modules, reducing both weight and cost significantly.

The weight savings from reduced wiring are not trivial. In a conventional vehicle, the wiring harness can weigh over 100 pounds. Cutting that by even half represents a meaningful reduction that improves efficiency and range. The simplified architecture also makes manufacturing easier, as fewer connections mean fewer potential failure points and less time spent on the assembly line routing and connecting cables.

Competing on Value, Not Just Price

Ford's approach represents a deliberate bet that American EV buyers want affordable full-size vehicles, not cheap small ones. The strategy is informed by the company's own painful experience with small cars. Ford exited the passenger car market in North America in 2018 in large part because it could not build affordable sedans and hatchbacks profitably at the price points consumers expected. The new EV platform aims to break that cycle by using technology and engineering efficiency to deliver value at scale.

The competitive landscape supports this approach. Tesla's most successful models, the Model Y and Model 3, are not subcompacts. They are full-featured vehicles that compete on technology, range, and overall ownership experience rather than simply being the cheapest option available. Chinese manufacturers are increasingly demonstrating that full-size EVs can be built affordably, putting additional pressure on Western automakers to find their own cost reduction formulas.

Ford's universal platform strategy also provides manufacturing flexibility. By designing a single architecture that can accommodate multiple body styles from pickup trucks to SUVs to potential future sedans, the company spreads its development investment across a larger volume of vehicles. Each additional model built on the platform reduces the per-unit cost of the underlying engineering.

If Ford executes successfully, the result could be a lineup of electric vehicles that break the longstanding assumption that affordable EVs must compromise on size, capability, or range. For the millions of Americans who need a full-size vehicle for their daily lives but cannot afford a $50,000 or $60,000 electric truck or SUV, that would be a genuinely meaningful development.

This article is based on reporting by The Drive. Read the original article.