Ford’s CEO is making some big promises. During the second-quarter earnings call, Jim Farley called the automaker’s next EV a “Model T moment for us at Ford.” Here’s what it would actually take for Ford to repeat the magic of the Model T.

“August 11, that will be a big day for all of us at Ford. We will be in Kentucky to share more about our plans to design and build a breakthrough electric vehicle and a platform in the U.S.” —Jim Farley, Ford CEO

1. Refuse to build a faster horse

According to Bill Ford, Henry Ford once said, “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said ‘a faster horse.’” Henry built the Model T instead. Bill Ford continued, “At Ford, we’re going to figure out what people want before they even know it and then we are going to give it to them.”

I’d say Ford did exactly that when it went against the “bigger-is-better” philosophy of the horsepower wars to introduce the cheap, nimble, and cool Mustang. This strategy pioneered the pony car class.

I would even argue Ford did it again with its recent Maverick compact pickup truck. While some enthusiasts say anything less than a one-ton Power Stroke isn’t a “real truck,” the Maverick has proven to be just as much truck as many folks need. And its 40 mpg rating and $20k MSRP didn’t hurt either.

Then Ford took on the electric market and missed a step. Its Mustang Mach-E is too tall and heavy to compete with the longest-range EVs, like Lucids and Tesla’s sedans. The F-150 Lightning requires a massive battery pack—which makes it both heavy and expensive—to have a remotely competitive range. They are both a faster horse.

If Ford is to have another “Model T moment,” it will need to forget what customers think they want and build the low, light, cheap EV American drivers actually need.

CEO Jim Farley has recognized this. He said of EVs the size of the Lightning, “the economics are unresolvable.” He added that U.S. drivers need to fall “back in love with smaller vehicles.”

2. A car a factory worker can afford

Ford introduced the Model T at $850. By 1924, Henry Ford had actually reduced the MSRP to $260. As a result, one of Ford’s entry-level factory workers could buy the car with four months’ pay. Today, an entry-level production worker at the River Rouge plant will make $17 an hour. Before tax, that’s $680 a workweek, or $10,880 in four months.

Ford only has two vehicles that start under $30k in 2025. The Maverick compact truck starts at $28,145. The Ford Escape crossover is $29,515. It gets worse. With Nissan canceling its $17k Versa sedan, U.S. buyers will have no options below $20k in 2026. According to CarEdge, the average new car transaction price is over $48k. Used cars are averaging $25,512.

Traditional financial advice says spend 10% of your income on “transportation.” Once you add up car payment, insurance, fuel, and repairs, a single-income household would need to make $100k a year to afford the cheapest used car loan. Fewer than 1 in 5 U.S. drivers have that kind of money.

With lower “fuel” costs, less maintenance required, and fewer moving parts, entry-level electric vehicles are now much cheaper per mile than traditional ICE vehicles (AutoInsurance.com, CompanyMileage.com). A FWD EV station wagon or sedan with a small (100-mile) battery could actually have a $20k MSRP. It could also be cheaper to maintain and drive than anything else on the road. It could even offer an internal combustion generator “range extender” option for road trips instead of a bigger, heavier battery.

U.S. drivers need cheaper transportation options. There’s a huge hole in the market. Ford would have virtually no U.S.-made competitors. If the automaker plays its cards right, August 11 could indeed be another “Model T moment.”