\n<\/p>\n
What happens when you put Tesla veterans, Apple engineers and Ford misfits in a factory together at 3 a.m.? A $30,000 electric truck that could either save Ford or be its next Edsel.<\/p>\n
Ford has been running a secret \u201cskunk works\u201d project since 2022 to build an electric truck that can compete with Chinese automakers, says The Wall Street Journal<\/a>. The team\u2014led by Tesla Model S engineer Alan Clarke and staffed with Apple and Tesla veterans plus what Clarke calls Ford\u2019s \u201cmisfits and malcontents\u201d\u2014is tearing up a century of manufacturing practices to hit that $30,000 price point. They\u2019ve eliminated thousands of feet of copper wiring, ditched Ford\u2019s \u201csmokers window\u201d design and scrapped the traditional assembly line for a modular \u201cassembly tree\u201d system. CEO Jim Farley is calling it Ford\u2019s \u201cModel T moment.\u201d One hitch: Ford\u2019s previous electric F-150 cost up to $77,000 and the company killed it last year after racking up billions in losses.<\/p>\n The truck is set to launch in 2027 with 300 miles of range and Mustang-level speed. Hyundai\u2019s CEO says competing with China on EVs \u201cis impossible\u201d without government subsidies, but Ford is betting a radical culture clash between Silicon Valley and Detroit can prove him wrong.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n What happens when you put Tesla veterans, Apple engineers and Ford misfits in a factory together at 3 a.m.? A $30,000 electric truck that could either save Ford or be its next Edsel.<\/p>\n Ford has been running a secret \u201cskunk works\u201d project since 2022 to build an electric truck that can compete with Chinese automakers, says The Wall Street Journal<\/a>. The team\u2014led by Tesla Model S engineer Alan Clarke and staffed with Apple and Tesla veterans plus what Clarke calls Ford\u2019s \u201cmisfits and malcontents\u201d\u2014is tearing up a century of manufacturing practices to hit that $30,000 price point. They\u2019ve eliminated thousands of feet of copper wiring, ditched Ford\u2019s \u201csmokers window\u201d design and scrapped the traditional assembly line for a modular \u201cassembly tree\u201d system. CEO Jim Farley is calling it Ford\u2019s \u201cModel T moment.\u201d One hitch: Ford\u2019s previous electric F-150 cost up to $77,000 and the company killed it last year after racking up billions in losses.<\/p>\n The truck is set to launch in 2027 with 300 miles of range and Mustang-level speed. Hyundai\u2019s CEO says competing with China on EVs \u201cis impossible\u201d without government subsidies, but Ford is betting a radical culture clash between Silicon Valley and Detroit can prove him wrong.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n