Ford has been teasing its Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) lineup for a while, featuring an electric pickup truck. We’ve learned a bit more about Ford’s EV pickup, but it’s still unclear if it will be the answer to Ford’s ongoing problems with electric trucks.
The Ford F-150 Lightning was a bit of a failed experiment. It only lasted about three years, with Ford discontinuing the truck in 2025 due to low demand from Americans. While the Ford F-Series saw over 828,800 sales in 2025, only 25,583 of those were the Lightning, an 18% decline from 2024. Americans were sending a message: they didn’t want to pay $50,000 for an electric truck that basically did everything a gas or hybrid F-150 did — but worse.
The Ford F-150 Lightning just wasn’t profitable for Ford, and the carmaker had to end its misery to make way for a more cost-effective electric pickup. But will this electric pickup prove Americans do want an electric EV from Ford? Or will it signal that Americans are not interested in a Ford-made electric pickup once and for all?
The Ranchero must have a good range and a cheap battery to succeed
Ford has been pretty tight-lipped about the mysterious new electric pickup, rumored to be called the Ranchero after its 1950s pickup. The only confirmed information we have is that it’s coming in 2027 with a $30,000 price tag. It’s part of Ford’s new UEV lineup, which will consist of electric vehicles under $40,000 that use the carmaker’s new unicasting manufacturing technique and three-pronged assembly system to reduce parts and materials needed during production.
When CEO Jim Farley shared a sneak peek of the new EV pickup inside the revamped Kentucky factory on X, we saw it had some similarities to the Maverick pickup, which has a compact unibody design. However, the new EV will have a more streamlined, aerodynamic appearance, including a sculpted roofline with teardrop-shaped airflow past the bed to reduce drag, reduced mirror size, and a streamlined underbody that covers the front tires. This is an attempt to help the EV pickup reach its target range without requiring a larger, more expensive battery.
The truth of the matter is that customers looking for an electric pickup are not going to buy a $30,000 vehicle if it has crappy range. Who wants to go off-roading in an electric vehicle that might leave you stranded in the middle of the woods? Who wants to hitch up the camper and take a weekend trip in a truck that will need to pull over for charging over and over again? The $30,000 means nothing if the truck is rendered useless.
Luckily, the UEV team is full of automakers with experience in motorsports, including Formula 1. They know a thing or two about cutting air drag and reducing energy usage. One of the leads, Alan Clark, spent 12 years at Tesla and has stated that the UEV team adopted a system that closely tracks the design’s weight, drag, and rolling resistance. Though his work on the Cybertruck doesn’t give much hope in this department.
While $30,000 means nothing without range, range also means nothing if it’s another $50,000 pickup. This means that Ford has to keep using the cheaper, smaller batteries from its Chinese partner. These current batteries have about 30% less energy than the pricier batteries found in luxury EVs. This pickup has to be more electrically efficient, lighter, and aerodynamic to achieve a comparable range with that battery.
It’s all a big puzzle, but is it even worth solving for Ford?
Is the Ranchero what Americans have been looking for?
Americans have been claiming they want small, cheap trucks for years. Despite this constant demand, pickup trucks have been getting bigger and bigger.
“What we used to call a compact or small truck is now a midsize that absolutely dwarfs the new crop of compact trucks,” Ed Loh, Head of Editorial at MotorTrend, told ABC News. “People want smaller trucks.”
Now, America is putting its money where its mouth is. The Slate pickup, a low-cost, simple, small EV, currently has over 150,000 pre-orders as people await its arrival. Meanwhile, the Ford Maverick had record-breaking sales in 2025, reaching 55,051 units, thanks to its affordable price and compact size.
Ford has clearly taken notice, which explains the similarities seen between the Maverick and the sneak peek at the upcoming EV pickup. It’s tough to say if the Ranchero would have any chance against China’s smaller and cheaper EV pickups, but I think it will have a better chance at survival than the Lightning.
