Ford’s first all-electric pickup truck didn’t exactly fly off the lot. The automaker is hoping a lower-cost model will fare better.
On Thursday, the automaker rolled out a first look at its forthcoming all-electric pickup truck. The Fathom, as Ford is calling it, will start at $28,350 once it’s eligible for preorder early next year, and will headline a planned suite of low-cost EVs.
Details on the Fathom are scarce. Ford previously said its new entry-level model would travel just under 300 miles on a full charge, but that higher trim packages would be able to go farther. It’ll be similar in size to Ford’s Ranger pickup, but with a roomier interior than Toyota’s RAV4 crossover SUV. Ford aims to deliver the first vehicles in fall 2027.
The Fathom will be offered at a far lower price point than Ford’s now-defunct F-150 Lightning, as well as other EVs on the market. The average new EV clocked in at over $56,000 as of June, while the average full-size pickup costs over $66,000.
The Lightning, meanwhile, cost more than $55,000 by the time it was phased out late last year. In total, around 105,000 Lightnings were sold across the truck’s four years on the market. (Ford sold more than 800,000 F-series fossil-fueled trucks in 2025 alone.)
So how will Ford cut the Fathom’s price tag so dramatically? The truck will be built on what Ford calls a “Universal EV Platform,” which will allow it to construct several types of EVs with common parts and on a shared assembly line.
The Fathom has a noteworthy competitor in the Jeff Bezos–backed startup Slate Auto, which will soon offer a bare-bones pickup that starts at just below $25,000 — radio and power windows sold separately. But with touchscreen navigation and even bidirectional charging capabilities, the Fathom comes packed with a few more perks for its slightly higher price.
Cheaper models are helping drive EV adoption as drivers worldwide embrace cutting-edge and low-cost Chinese-made EVs. In the U.S., Chinese EVs aren’t available, and affordable models are rare — plus President Donald Trump has eliminated federal discounts for EVs.
Those factors go a long way toward explaining why EV sales in the U.S. are set to shrink this year while they hit new records elsewhere. Though electric options are often cheaper to own and operate than comparable gas cars, their higher upfront cost has scared off many drivers.
Price point, then, is where the opportunity lies for EV makers in America. The Fathom — and other as-yet-undisclosed Universal EV Platform models — are Ford’s attempt to seize it.
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