“It’s really not a pickup,” Ford’s CEO Jim Farley told The Verge about his company’s upcoming $30,000 Universal EV Platform-based truck. Ever since The Autopian published its exclusive spy photos of a prototype, the world has been abuzz about whether or not this little vehicle is a real pickup truck, and now The Autopian’s Carbage Time podcast is here to let you know what we think. And we think: OF COURSE IT’S A PICKUP TRUCK! Also, in this episode Jason and I realize that this truck could end up being an amazing people’s car if Ford does it right.
“I would say it’s a new silhouette. What I mean by that is that it has more room than a RAV4, the best-selling passenger car in the US. That doesn’t include its frunk and pickup truck bed. It is very fast, it’s rear-wheel drive, it’s super fun to drive, and it has a digital experience that no one’s seen — at least that we’ve seen — even in China,” Farley continued in the interview on The Verge.
It’s clear Ford does not want us really even thinking about this new vehicle in the same way that we think about even the Ford Maverick. On Ford’s website, the company answers an FAQ about Maverick sizing thusly:
Q: The truck will be comparable in footprint to a Maverick, but because it is a clean-sheet EV design, the only similarity to Maverick is the size comparison.
If so, that would be amazing. The fact that Ford’s goal is a range of 300 miles on the base vehicle, at a price of $30,000, is impressive.
Unlike the Subaru Baja, the truck is going to be rear-wheel drive, per Farley. So, considering the diminutive dimensions of the truck overall (here’s our best guess at its size), the small bed, and the fact that this clearly isn’t going to have tons of off-road capability, we ask ourselves in The Autopian’s Carbage Time podcast: Is this really a truck?
Jason feels strongly that it is, citing numerous vehicles over the years that are also as small, but that are known as hard-working trucks around the globe.
Is the Suzuki Mighty Boy a truck? Of course it is! In fact, our very own Australian contributor Laurence Rogers has one in his household, and the thing is a workhorse, even with a two-foot bed.
There are tons of tiny workhorses out there, with Europe’s cutest one being the Piaggio Ape (the Ape 50 below has a little 4.5ft bed):
Japan’s workhorses are tiny Kei trucks:
And while the T360 and Acty above have 6-foot beds, the Suzuki Super Carry below has a bed with an effective bed length under 5-feet (I say “effective” because there’s a slot under the rear seats where one could slide a 6-foot board or some other slim item):
So yes, the new Ford EV truck is small, but it is still a truck:
The obvious move for a company trying to build an economical vehicle with 300 miles of range is to develop a sedan or wagon — something small frontal area, little ground clearance, and low weight. The issue — and I think Ford understands this — is that Ford hasn’t had tons of success selling sedans lately, likely in part because competition is stiff.
Ford has faced this conundrum before: How can the brand sell a fuel efficient, small vehicle that doesn’t doesn’t have to fight against the Kia K4 or VW Jetta or Toyota Corolla (or even the CR-V or Rav4 or million cars in the midsize CUV space)? The answer was a truly outside-the-box one — one that will go down in auto history as one of the most brilliant product decisions ever — the Ford Maverick. It’s a vehicle that leverages Ford’s reputation as a truck manufacturer, while offering a low-cost, efficient machine with a totally unique character when compared to the standard sedan or crossover. And because of this unique character, Ford doesn’t have to be fight to sell the vehicle for the very lowest price on the market; people want Mavericks because they’re cool.
To successfully sell an EV today, the vehicle has to be cool on its own. It can’t just be “cool for an EV.” For Tesla, the Model 3 worked because it was a Tesla — a luxury brand. Ford knew that competing with the Tesla brand would be hard, which the company named its first EV the Mustang Mach-E. Mustang, the thought went, could perhaps compete with Tesla in a way Ford maybe couldn’t. Trying to build character into an EV is critical, and building a unique, small pickup is, I think, genius. I’m very, very excited, especially if this thing is $30 big ones for 300 miles, and especially if it looks cool and has some fun, useful features.
Watch/listen to our Carbage Time podcast above to see how Jason Torchinsky and I find ourselves more and more pumped for this truck the more we think about what it could be.
As a city dweller who has owned a couple trucks and still does truck stuff am I absolutely the target demographic for one of these. That being said, “a digital experience that no one’s seen” is the last thing I would ever want in a truck.
I’ll never understand why auto manufacturers feel they need to completely reinvent the wheel when it comes to how we interact with a car just because it runs on electricity instead of gas. Especially in a truck. Guess I’ll have to wait and hope that the pricing for a Slate is still reasonable.
RWD, that should be fun to see new drivers buying these for 1st cars, try to get used to again. 100% torque at 0 RPM in a lightish truck shaped EV, It will be mostly ok everywhere there is now snow, and probably just fine in the rain in a oil soaked Cali road when Nino hits, right?
I do appreciate the RWD though personally. I grew up with RWD single cab farm trucks, you could go about anywhere as long as you had clearance and decent tires.
Not just RWD with lots of torque, but also in a vehicle heavier than a crown vic.
Also in order to hit range targets, it won’t have ground clearance or decent tires.
I hope they use that same platform to make a new Transit Connect (or some other van)… in both passenger and cargo form.
And it would also be nice if they made a car… a 4 door hatchback and either call it the Escort or the Focus.
And of course you just know they’re gonna make a CUV… preferably an all-new Escape to replace the current one that has gone out of production and is only on sale to the end of this year.
The money shot is to sell this thing as a truck to get away from the CAFE standards – except as an EV, that goes out the window so never mind – and then follow up with an aftermarket wink-wink bed cover that transforms it into a minivan. Bonus points if the rear window – and wall – can be removed and a third row installed.
Boom. People mover. It looks nice and aerodynamic, they could call it something that evokes that and sky-high aspirations, like StarWind or Aerospace.
Aerowind.
Or maybe it can be a people for around small towns… like a Village… for use by local Villagers
Well it certainly wouldn’t be the Country Squire, would it?
Nah… he’s back on his Ranch and uses a Wagon… I think he calls it his Ranch Wagon
Have they confirmed that they are going for that on the base model? The FAQ leaves a little bit of room for interpretation with the mention of “some customers” expecting around 300 miles of range, which I am taking to mean that it can be optioned up to that range.
Of course, you visited them and have more info. If they are shooting for 300 in the base model, that’s pretty great.
never really worked out on the 40K 300 Mile Lightning, let’s see if they learned some new tricks half a decade later.
Ford reliability issues aside, this appeals to me as a future replacement for my Ridgeline. The frunk is a good replacement for my current trunk.
That said, do we think that they will offer this in AWD? I don’t want RWD in the snowy areas I frequent.
Will it tow? A Tesla Model Y can tow 3500 pounds.
Good stuff. Are you all aware of the Garbage Time car channel on youtube? The podcast name seems a little close to that for also being automotive.
Ughhhh…. I don’t want my car to have a “digital experience”. I want it to have a simple, quick, comprehensible user interface that doesn’t require an internet connection or voice commands or AI nonsense. Just give me phone mirroring, and intuitive controls for settings, and cut out the frivolity.
But that won’t allow them to vacuum up all your info and sell it to data brokers.
Yeah, that’s why it’ll never happen again, probably. Sigh.
Serious off road capabilities with that low ground clearance? Where’s the laughing emoji.
Did you forget to read a word?
Yep. I missed that. Never read before coffee.
Not to be that guy, but how is a car that MSRPs for $30K in base trim likely to become a people’s car when in most places it’s likely to have a $5K (or more… sometimes much more) dealer markup on it, to say nothing of the few grand more of nonsense extras many dealers add beyond that… how is that, where the base car with only modest markups/addons plus tax/title/reg probably won’t leave most dealerships for less than low $40Ks… going to appeal to the masses? And with the base car at that, you know the upper trim XLT/whatever ones will be bumping close to $60K by the time all’s said and done?
Not to knock whatever enthusiasm folks may be feelin’ for the new vehicle, but the whole Maverick debacle was only like 5-6 years ago… surely our memories aren’t that impaired? Yes, I know some lucky folks managed to get one of those at MSRP, but IME and from reading various online stuff, LOTS of buyers had to contend with dealer price bumps of at least $5K and some as high as $10K in order to drive home in one.
Or is there something about how Ford plans to release this new EV that will somehow manage to avoid all that nonsense once again? Selling online direct to buyers at MSRP with later pickup at a dealership? Or does that remain fantasy?
If so, do tell.
It’s very interesting to me the phenomenon of people saying Slate’s value proposition is defeated by this Courier (I’m going to call it the Courier…) Somehow, Slate is going to overshoot its price target and end up close to 30-35K, but Ford will keep its promise of keeping the Courier (huffs into cope bag) at 30K as if the Maverick launch price surge never happened and dealer markups just don’t exist.
I do think Slate will have to creep its pricing up, but the prospect of seeing the Courier at 29,999 or 30,999 is almost zero – maybe like the based promised $20K Maverick, it will come later and they will only make like 7.
The Lightning started at $39900 as well. For about a month. Then it went up by 10k and Ford was wondering where the demand went.
I am on board with Courier. I don’t hate Ranchero but I think I like Courier better.
If it’s not a pickup, it’s a Ranchero.
But the name’s been forever tarnished by The Simpsons’ Canyonero.
I like Courier and don’t hate Ranchero too, but both come off as a little too on-the-nose retro for those names, unless Ford intends on a kitschy/nostalgic ad campaign at launch. Also, judging by the ‘spy’ photos/videos of it so far, it doesn’t look much like a Courier or Ranchero IMO.
I think they might do a co-branding thing with the makers of Rick & Morty and it’s going to be named the Ford Squanch.
Because it looks kind of squashed you see. I know, it’s always great when an attempt at humor has to be explained. 😉
Ranchero to me needs to be reserved for the full-size cartruck based on the Taurus. Given that there’s no sedan offerings besides the Mustang, maybe we can go a different route….
I don’t even think $30K makes it a peoples car. Maybe in name only as it will be one of the cheapest new trucks. $20K is the peoples price.
I’m too old to be as optimistic as you are Bud, so I’d have said $25K is low enough to have a shot at becoming people-worthy. 🙂 But it’d have to be a real $25K… without dealer markups or add-ons, and actually available in the base/$25K spec.
Sadly, the days of the decent, usable $20K new car seem about over. 🙁 I know that so many people seem to have regular jobs that pay well into six figures these days, but with the past several year’s worth of inflation, money just doesn’t seem to go nearly as far as it used to (even when you see the original prices of old cars adjusted into ‘today’s dollars’ they seemed so much more attainable back then).
Edited to add: the Japanese Self Defense Force has a shiny new tank made by Mitsubishi. And it has a CVT!
Oh. I don’t think it will be $20k. I’m just saying $20K IS the peoples price no matter what anyone’s overpaid marketing department says.
Six figures is normal in high cost of living areas, but, unless you’re there, you have to be highly skilled labor or decades of experience, when, ironically, the money doesn’t matter as much.
Further, six figures doesn’t go nearly as far as it once did. For nearly a decade my daycare bill was more than my mortgage. Summer day camp for my two kids, which does include some form of swim lessons and gymnastics lessons, is $775/week, once again, more than my mortgage.
I’m old and cantankerous, so I’ll suck my dentures and shake my gnarled, liver-spotted fist at the heavens, cursing them for how expensive everything is now everywhere. 😉
If it has a bed, it’s a truck (or a Ute)
Why wouldn’t it be a truck? WTF?
Why is this even a question? If you look at something w/ a bed and think “That’s not a truck/ute” you have no brain and are a total moron.
“Ya big dummy!”
-Fred Sanford
Do people still want front wheel drive for bad weather and traction or does the average car buyer have no idea about anything like that any more?
I would have really considered it, if it had been available last March when I got my Bolt. I could not delay as I got 10K towards the purchase from my local air quality district with the requirement that my 2004 Acura be dismantled. It would have been my first truck purchase. I’m not complaining.