Ford unveils new details on its cheaper EV platform. First up, a midsize pickup.

Ford (F)'s first-gen EVs — think the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning pickup — gave the automaker valuable insights into what customers want, as well as the difficulties in manufacturing EVs from scratch.

The big problem for Ford and other non-Tesla automakers was that customer demand was nowhere near the excitement levels projected by the industry, and the costs associated with the program were massive, to the tune of $19.5 billion in write-offs for Ford.

As a result, Ford pivoted its EV plans, but it's not giving up. The company's focus is on a new universal electric vehicle (UEV) platform built from the ground up with a "skunkworks" team in California. The first product will be a midsize EV pickup costing around $30,000, targeting profitability from the start.

"We're still on a really steep decline of EV costs, and you can only get that by innovating, and you can only get that by system level, optimizing into what eventually becomes a product that a customer wants," said Ford's Alan Clarke, who runs the skunkworks team out of Long Beach and was a longtime Tesla engineer.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-unveils-new-details-on-its-cheaper-ev-platform-first-up-a-midsize-pickup-160039022.html

Wonder how long that will stay at $30,000? When Ford introduced the hybrid Maverick truck it was advertised at $20,000. I don't see any listed for less than $30,000.