The mystery surrounding Ford’s upcoming affordable mid-size electric pickup is finally starting to clear, and it turns out the news is better than we feared. While we initially expected a budget-friendly four-door EV limited to rear-wheel drive, Ford’s EV chief, Doug Field, has officially corrected the record. The highly anticipated $30,000 electric truck will indeed launch with an available dual-motor AWD configuration.
In a move to keep the “Ovale Blu” competitive, these motors will be built in-house, with Ford boldly claiming they will be the most economical in the world. The setup is quite clever. A permanent magnet motor handles the rear wheels, while the AWD models add an induction motor to drive the front axle. It’s a sophisticated solution for a vehicle aimed at the entry-level market.
Of course, a lower price tag requires some strategic compromises. To keep costs down, the new universal EV platform will stick to a 400-volt architecture rather than the fancier, pricier 800-volt systems.
Jim Farley has remained tight-lipped on the official name, but we do know the truck will support both Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) and Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) battery chemistries. The entry-level version is expected to utilize an LFP battery pack roughly 15% smaller than that of the Chinese BYD Atto 2, translating to about 51 kWh of energy.
Perhaps the most “electrifying” feature is the inclusion of bi-directional charging. Farley is adamant that this mid-size truck will be able to export power to run an entire home. It’s a legacy feature inherited from the now-defunct F-150 Lightning, proving that you don’t need a massive luxury truck to survive a power outage or an undercover hurricane.
With production slated for next year, Ford is betting that a cheap, house-powering, dual-motor workhorse is exactly what the electric vehicle market needs to finally move the needle.
