Following the success of the F-150 Lightning, Ford is working on a new electric truck that will likely go on sale in 2025. The new EV truck will sit alongside an electric Ford Explorer, as well as the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, as Ford’s family of electric cars starts to fill out by the mid-point of the decade.
Ford CEO Jim Farley originally hinted at the new truck in April, saying it will be constructed at the company’s new Blue Oval City plant in Tennessee. The vehicle will be an “all-new” moniker, not a revamped F-150 Lightning, and will help Ford maintain its position as a leader in electric trucks, according to Farley.
The fact that Ford would launch a new brand rather than electrify one of its current cars, such as the popular Maverick and Bronco marques, suggests that the carmaker is confident in its electrification intentions. A corporate spokeswoman refused to comment on “future product conjecture.”
The study confirms Ford’s intention to begin manufacturing an all-electric Explorer SUV by the end of 2024. After a prior proposal to build it alongside the Mustang Mach-E in Cuautitlan, Mexico, was canceled, the Explorer EV will be constructed at the company’s facility in Oakville, Ontario. According to Automotive News, the Oakville factory, where the gas-powered Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus are made, is in the process of being transformed into an EV-only production.
The new Explorer EV is slated to be on sale in 2025, however, supply chain issues and battery material shortages have already delayed the automaker’s EV aspirations.
Farley has teased all-electric versions of the new Bronco SUV and Maverick small truck, but Automotive News reports that for the time being, we’ll only get a hybrid Bronco to compete with the Jeep Wrangler 4xe by 2024. Hybrid Bronco Sport and Ranger pickups are also in the works.
Ford has said that it intends to be “the clear No. 2 electric car producer in North America over the next couple of years and eventually fight for No. 1” — however, increased competition from other legacy automakers may make that objective more difficult to achieve. Hyundai and Kia have overtaken Ford in EV sales, selling 21,467 electric cars between January and May of this year. Ford, on the other hand, sold 15,718 EVs within the same time period.
