Ford is determined not to let Tesla dominate the electric vehicle market.
The veteran carmaker is determined to use its strengths to catch up with Elon Musk's group. Ford has thus chosen to develop electric versions of two of its emblematic cars to attack Tesla (TSLA), the disrupter.
The first weapon is the Ford Mustang Mach E, the plug-in version of the iconic Mustang. The Mustang Mach E is an SUV positioned as the direct rival of Tesla's Model Y SUV. The Model Y was the bestselling electric vehicle in the world last year, according to data from various analysts.
Ford (F) also started producing the F-150 Lightning last year. That's is the electric version of the F-150 pickup truck, which for decades has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S.
As a result, sales of the F-150 Lightning are being watched closely as they should determine, analysts believe, whether America's heartland is ready to embrace EVs.
Noteworthy is that the carmaker, led by Jim Farley, has chosen to launch its EV push by going into auto-market segments with wider margins. SUVs and pickups are the market segments with the fattest margins when it comes to gasoline-powered cars.
Project T3: New Concept
Ford believes that this strategy will pay off in the long term. It has just unveiled a new-concept electric truck. This is "Project T3."
"Our next electric truck: Project T3," Farley tweeted on March 24 with three lightning bolts.
"T3" stands for 'Trust The Truck,' says Ford.
The code name is for Ford's second-generation electric truck, which is to be developed alongside a new assembly plant outside Memphis. This new $5.6 billion factory, called BlueOval City complex, will have capacity to produce 500,000 electric vehicles per year at full production.
An 'Updatable' Vehicle
BlueOval City, which will employ 6,000 people, is designed to be Ford's first campus devoted to carbon-neutral vehicle and battery manufacturing. From day one the site will use only carbon-free electricity, the company said.
Ford didn't give many details about the new truck, just that the model won't rely on any of its current or past vehicles. It will be a truck that "people have never seen," Farley said during an event streamed live on the internet.
"The new truck built here was designed from the ground up to be incredibly efficient to manufacture, and when you see it, it won't look like a normal car," Farley continued. "It's a marvel of simplification."
"We're going to have a fully integrated battery manufacturing site, the first built cells [on site], then we're going to build arrays of the cells within, and then the arrays will go into battery packs. And within minutes of finishing the battery pack, they will go right into a truck."
Farley also said that Ford is going to develop a full supplier park on site to make high-value components like seats and cooling module assemblies that will reduce freight cost, shipping times, waste, and inventory.
The political satirist "PJ O’Rourke once described American pickups as 'a back porch with an engine attached.’ Well, this new truck is going to be like the Millennium Falcon – with a back porch attached,” the CEO said. "The manufacturing process will be equally breakthrough, with radical simplicity, cost efficiency and quality technology.
"We challenge ourselves to create a truck people can trust in the digital age. Now this will be a fully software updatable vehicle. Literally everything you get in your truck is built here."
The top executive said the new truck "will be better and different."
"It will learn how you use it. We're going to send software to it every day, every week, every month, every year to make your truck better. And we will start at home."
Production will start in 2025, Farley said.
"Project T3" is at the heart of Ford's ambition to sell about 2 million EVs by 2026
