Posted on 05/05/2026 8:52:26 AM PDT by Red Badger
ALLEN PARK, Mich.—A crew of engineers slipped past the empty security gate at a Ford Motor truck plant outside Detroit just after 3 a.m. The factory lines were still at that hour—but that was the point.
The crew was there to test a section of a new pickup that few at the company knew even existed. Ford’s secret project had an ambitious goal: to figure out how to make electric vehicles in the U.S. that could compete with the Chinese models clobbering competitors globally.
The secret is now out as Ford races toward building its first model, a new truck it says will be nearly as fast as a Mustang, travel around 300 miles on a single charge and feature in-car technology to compete with Tesla and China. It’s aiming for a 2027 launch and a price tag of around $30,000, the cost of a Toyota Camry.
Getting there means tearing up a century of manufacturing practices in a notoriously hidebound industry. At stake for Ford is securing a future beyond the gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs that have long defined its bottom line.
The project had been kept quiet from its 2022 start, led by veterans from Tesla and Apple who worked on designs out of a California office. Ford eventually brought in some of its own employees to help execute the vision. The process was filled with misunderstandings and distrust as the techie outsiders worked to win over the risk-averse industry veterans.
VIDEOS AT LINK................
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
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Most pickup trucks are probably parked in driveways w/ no electric. Of course charging an electric one in your garage could set your house on fire. So there’s that.
How about Ford goes back to what they do best - make reliable gas cars like Taurus and Escort that also make for great fleet cars. How about bringing back the Explorer Sport instead of another electric product no one wants?
I’ll stick with my 68 Dodge Power Wagon, thank you.
Of course, California is trying to make sure I can’t get gas for it.
I recently bought the final year GenII Toyota Tundra. It has the last V8 and a mere six speed transmission as opposed to a dual turbo V6 with an eight or more transmission. The reason was reparability. I traded in a V6 dual turbo truck where every failure, regardless of how small, a leaking rubber seal, for example, cost well over $1000. I paid the full 2021 MSRP, $39,000, for that Tundra. It had 40k miles on it. They’re worth that much because the replacement trucks are ludicrously expensive and the repair cost is ridiculous. Very quickly in the life of the new trucks, any repair costs as much as the truck is worth.
As for electric vehicles, a friend recently leased a new Toyota hybrid. At first, he loved it. But it wanted to drive instead of him. Then, he pulled out into cross traffic and accidentally touched the brake. The car stopped instantly and the dash turned red. Cross traffic in both directions screeched to a halt. The car displayed, “It is unsafe to brake and accelerate at the same time.” It took it several painful moments while people yelled and honked to give him control again. He’s finished with it and looking for a used, older ICE car.
Chinese EVs are like Disposable Razors , throwaway
Chinese EVs are like Disposable Razors
You charge them, then two hours later you have to charge them again.
Ford cars have always always sucked bigly(sans Mustang). And I say that having owned 8 of them at this point.
You want reliable Ford, needs to be be a truck frame with a truck motor and a truck body. None of this unibody bs.
My 01 e350 has 340k on it, still kicking strong. 7.3 ps.
Explorer is a dead model until they decide to make it a legitimate SUV again instead of a supersized taurus. Had a 94 for my first car and a 01 for a few months.
Nobody wants an electric truck
Propaganda term used to vilify privately owned cars ... and the people who drive them. IIRC, it was invented by some drone in the Jimmy Carter regime.
Depending on where you live, it might not just be your house.
Seriously time to consider cng/propane swaps or ww2 era wood gassifiers.
Going to piece together a carb and intake that works on my 4.0 wrangler soon and do a propane/gas dual fuel setup.
To these loons, a prius is gas guzzling at this point.
What bloody moron saw that response as anything resembling a good idea???? A personal injury lawyer would just LOVE showing that to a jury.
Ford created the model T, the first mass produced (production line) car for the common man.
It would be somewhat iconic for this brand to be the one to create the first affordable electric truck.
How does that happen?
To these loons, if you don’t live in a “walkable” “15-minute city” ... and just loooooove every aspect of it ... you’re worse than the devil.
I knew a pro rally driver, he taught me how to hit the brake while on full throttle around corners to help bring the rear end around. It is especially fun in the we or snow because you can modulate the slide far better than a hand brake.
I guess I won’t be getting a toy hybrid anytime soon
Modern cars are damn near impractical.
Too proprietary with parts which can be hard to get once the vehicle is older, if traveling, and are often extremely expensive.
Too complex mechanically and in electronics, making the vehicle susceptible to problems and possibly difficult to trouble shoot.
New vehicles are disposable. May it be batteries, parts availability, the excessive use of plastic, rubber and adhesives which all break down over time, these cars are pretty new but basically go to the dump after 12 - 14 years.
I need something I put my keys in and it starts.
Not some complex POS that needs a mechanical and electrical engineer living in my garage to keep it in the road.
“How does that happen?”
Well, the way I’ve done it is big feet and tiny footwell. The way he probably did it was his normal car has a stick shift, and he probably made a reflexive move as if he was driving with a clutch. From my observation, also, he was a two-footed driver who braked with his left foot. My sister did that. Drove me crazy. So, several possibilities.
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