- Ford announced today that amid struggles with EV profitability, it is canceling an SUV model to offer a hybrid one instead and pushing back several electric models.
- Ford confirmed that it is making both a midsize and full-size electric pickup truck, but the latter will be pushed back to the second half of 2027.
- More hybrid Ford options are coming as well.
Ford is America's number two electric vehicle brand behind Tesla. But getting there hasn't been easy.
Over the past few years of F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E sales, Ford has sunk billions into models that aren't proving to be profitable, all while it deals with an uneven electric market, a boosted in interest in hybrids, intensifying competition and a rising China.
As a result, the Dearborn automaker today announced some major changes to its EV and hybrid plan, and that includes 10% less capital spending on purely electric models overall.
Ford announced that it will no longer make a three-row electric SUV as planned, but will go hybrid with those models instead; the so-called "skunkworks" electric truck is confirmed to be a midsize truck, not a compact one as many assumed; will not launch any EVs unless they can be profitable in the first 12 months; and continue to provide gas and diesel vehicles, among other things.
The changes in plans could equate to an anticipated $1.9 billion in additional costs, Ford officials said.
"It's coming back to understanding the customer, understanding how this is going to transition over time," Ford CFO John Lawler said on a media briefing this morning. "It's about providing them those choices that meet their duty cycles and their needs, and that is giving them the options between full battery electric vehicles, hybrid technologies."
Ford officials didn't elaborate when asked by InsideEVs where their EV sales or profits were projected to be versus where they are now, but said its overall strategy to use electrification to reduce CO2 emissions has not changed.
"We are launching multiple electric vehicles in Europe this year," Ford said in a statement. "We are adjusting the company’s North America vehicle roadmap to offer a range of electrification options designed to speed customer adoption, including lower prices and longer ranges."
A Change In EV Plans
Among the major changes in strategy: Ford is pushing back its midsize T3 electric truck, considered a more cutting-edge successor to the F-150 Lightning, to the second half of 2027. The truck will be assembled at BlueOval City’s Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center, Ford officials said. Originally, it was supposed to start production this year.
"It will launch with the launch of the full-size pickup," Lawler said of that plant. "So there is a delay there of about 18 months versus what we were planning earlier. We'll continue to build out construction, and we'll continue to get that plant ready for production and move forward."
Lawler added that there are no plans to cancel any current offerings, such as the Lightning and Mach-E.
At the same time, Ford plans to introduce an all-new, fully electric commercial van that will begin production in 2026 in Ohio. That follows a plan for Ford to focus electrification, and offerings, in areas where it has "competitive advantages": commercial vans, mid-size and large pickup trucks, and "long-range" SUVs.
Ford officials reaffirmed that the so-called "skunkworks" plan—meant to develop a low-cost EV platform with a team out of California that's designed to take on Tesla and China—will continue. This platform is expected to produce several vehicles, including a crossover and commercial vehicles.
But this is the first time Ford has confirmed that the truck coming out of it will be a midsize one, not a compact one. It is "expected to cater to customers who want more for their money—more range, more utility, more useability," Ford said in a news release.
Lawler declined to elaborate on whether this truck would be sized more like the smaller Maverick or the Ranger, one size up.
More Hybrids
Lawler said that Ford has "multiple hybrid technologies under development," and is working on other powertrain options. "And then we're going to continue to provide gas vehicles and diesel vehicles, because there's a demand for those and that's going to continue," he said.
Previously, Ford's planned three-row electric SUV—which Ford CEO Jim Farley once described as a "personalized bullet train"—was merely delayed to 2027. Now it will not be made at all, replaced instead by hybrid models.
This does mean Ford will lose $400 million in sunk costs on that vehicle, Lawler and others said today. Lawler also reaffirmed that future Super Duty trucks will go hybrid as well.
More Profits, Lower Costs
The revised plan focuses on Ford's profitability, which has been a struggle amid high battery costs and capital costs involved with producing EVs. Ford breaks out its electric Model e division's results separately, and last year it lost $4.7 billion on sales of 116,000 EVs. Though sales of its current models—the Lightning truck, Mach-E crossover and E-Transit van—have been rising, they have not been enough to compensate for those costs, Lawler said.
Lawler added that in the first half of next year, Ford is planning an "EV Day" event where it expects to elaborate more on plans for the hybrid three-row SUV, possibly offer more news on production locations and elaborate more its battery strategy.
While battery costs have declined significantly in recent years, they are a persistent headache for many automakers, Ford included. More recently, CEO Farley has been candid about their costs and what they mean for Ford's emphasis on larger vehicles, urging a shift to smaller EVs: “These huge, enormous EVs are never going to make money: the battery is $50,000, even with low-nickel, LFP chemistry," he said earlier this summer. "They will never be affordable.”
More Battery Plans Too
Part of Ford's announcements today also dealt with how and where it sources EV batteries from, which it says will be key to driving costs down.
The automaker said it, and partner LG Energy Solutions, will attempt to move some Mustang Mach-E battery production from Poland to Michigan next year to qualify for Inflation Reduction Act incentives. The BlueOval SK joint venture in Kentucky should start battery production for the Lightning and E-Transit next year; BlueOval City in Tennessee should get underway in late 2025 as well, to make batteries for the new electric commercial van. "Those same cells will be sourced to later power the next-generation electric truck to be assembled at BlueOval City and future emerging technology electrified vehicles," the automaker said. "This common cell strategy gives Ford significant sourcing flexibility for manufacturing across multiple segments and electrified platforms as the market continues to evolve."
Finally, cheaper lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery production in Michigan remains on track for 2026, which Ford says will qualify for IRA incentives as "America’s first automaker-backed LFP battery plant."
These moves may put Ford in a position to escape the scathing headlines built on its EV losses in recent years. But they may also come as a disappointment to those who were hoping for a more EV-centric future at Ford, including the three-row SUV or a sooner deployment of the possible Lightning successor. In the interim, however, the focus on hybrids may just put Ford more in line with customer demands—it has seen considerable success with the hybrid F-150 and other models.
"Our focus here is to remake Ford into high growth, higher margin, more capital, efficient and durable business," Lawler said. "And that means these vehicles need to be profitable. And if they're not profitable, based on where the customer is in the market is, we will pivot and adjust and make those tough decisions, and that's what we've done."
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
