Ford Pivots EV Strategy Amid Losses, Focuses on Low-Cost Models and Hybrids

Ford isn’t sending the clearest signals regarding its EV future. We got a glimpse of its Universal EV (UEV) Project last February, but then it pulled the plug on the F-150 Lightning, which is regarded as one of the more successful electric pickup trucks to date. The climate surrounding electric vehicles hasn’t helped, either, between loosening emissions rules, tariffs, and the elimination of the federal EV tax credit.

But recently, after touring Ford’s less-than-two-year-old Electric Vehicle Development Center (EVDC) located in Long Beach, California, I have a better sense of the company’s current position. Ford says it will continue to build EVs, doing everything possible to make its next model hit a $30,000 price point.

Ford is shaking things up as it relates to its EV and software teams. Doug Field, who left Apple five years ago to helm Ford’s multibillion-dollar bet on electric vehicles and software, is stepping down next month. Getting a promotion will be Alan Clarke, the ex-Tesla engineer who now leads Ford’s California-based skunkworks lab. Clarke’s new title will be vice president of advanced development projects, and he will continue to helm the effort to develop Ford’s Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) Platform.

The shake-up comes less five months after Ford announced a massive $19.5 billion writedown on its EV investment, as well as the discontinuation of several electric models, including the F-150 Lightning pickup truck. The company scrapped plans to build a next-gen electric truck, codenamed T3, and an electric commercial van. Instead, Ford would focus on hybrids as well as its existing lineup of gas-powered trucks and SUVs, as it continues work on its UEV platform, which will eventually underpin a whole family of low-cost EVs, starting with a $30,000 midsize truck in 2027.

To say that Ford has struggled to make profitable electric vehicles would be an understatement. The company recently pulled the plug on its F-150 Lightning, a truck once heralded as the most important EV ever made, after taking a staggering $19.5 billion hit on its EV investments in 2025. A new focus on hybrids and extended-range EVs, as well as internal-combustion engine vehicles that still bring in the most revenue, are now the new way forward for the iconic 122-year old company. Everything old is new again.

But Ford still sees EVs as the future — just not oversize ones with “no path to profitability,” like the Lightning, as Andrew Frick, president of Ford Model e and Ford Blue, said last year. Instead, the automaker is betting the farm on more affordable EVs, purpose-built with unique designs and smaller batteries, that can reignite customer demand while also turning a profit. Oh, and they need to be super fun to drive, too.

Ford announced a series of changes to its gas- and electric-powered vehicle business aimed at dramatically increasing hybrid vehicle production in the face of slowing EV sales. The automaker also will introduce some new products as part of this plan, including an extended-range EV version of its F-series truck and battery storage systems to meet growing demand from AI data center construction.

The news comes after Ford has weathered years of compounding losses from its struggling EV business. The 122-year-old company once had aspirations to surpass Tesla in battery-electric vehicle sales, but higher material costs and waning demand have since turned that goal into a financial albatross. Over the past two years, the company’s EV division, Ford Model e, has lost over $12 billion, with EV sales down over 60 percent in November alone. Now, Ford says it’s ready to pivot once again.

Ford says it’s finally cracked the code on cheap EVs.

The automaker announced plans to build “a family” of low-cost electric vehicles at its Kentucky assembly plant, starting with a four-door, midsized $30,000 pickup truck in 2027. Ford touted the announcement as its “Model T moment” that will be more streamlined to help bring down costs and put the company on a path to profitability. And it comes at an inflection point for the iconic American automaker, with the company expected to lose over $5 billion on EVs and software this year alone.