Pump the brakes, because things just got confusing. For weeks, there has been speculation about Ford building a new, $30,000 electric truck. However, now Ford CEO Jim Farley shared that it’s not really a pickup, muddying the waters. 

Ford’s new $30k truck isn’t really a pickup 

Alright, y’all, let’s walk through this together. A few weeks ago, Ford shared it’s investing $5 billion to build a $30,000 electric truck. Jobs will be added at the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky and the BlueOval Battery Park in Michigan. 

The truck will ride on a new Universal EV Platform, meant to underpin various affordable electric cars in 2027. But during an interview with the Verge Decoder podcast, things took a turn. 

Jim Farley shared that the first vehicle to use the new platform will be a mid-size truck. However, he explained that the body style isn’t really a pickup, but a new silhouette. 

He explains that it will have more room than the Toyota RAV4, and it doesn’t include its frunk and pickup truck bed. By the way, the RAV4 is the best-selling passenger car in America, making it a worthy target to battle. 

So, is Ford building an ute? The new truck has been compared to the Ford Maverick and will offer a unibody design. However, the Universal EV Platform combines three castings under a new construction method. 

Tesla has talked about building a car in three pieces, but hasn’t dared to try it. Farley shared that this has never been done before, so there’s a lot of risk and no guarantee that it will happen. 

Additionally, based on the initial details about the truck not having all-wheel drive, critics have inferred that the new EV is more akin to a car than a pickup. 

Farley insists that it’s a fast, rear-wheel-drive EV that’s super fun to drive. Also, it will be more affordable than anything by Tesla or Lucid. We might be confused until more information is released.