Ford made a $2 billion bet two years ago when it closed its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky and scrapped the assembly line system it had used for more than a century. Its goal was to transform the factory into one capable of making a new generation of affordable EVs.
The auto giant provided an update on Thursday, stating that its factory overhaul is on track and in 2027 will be ready to start producing the Fathom, an all-electric midsize truck that costs less than $30,000 and the first EV built on its new universal platform.
Ford said it expects to begin prototype builds of the Fathom in the first quarter of 2027, with customer vehicles to follow later in the year. The U.S. automaker is already testing production-level tooling ahead of the prototypes.
The stakes for Ford are high. The company’s previous EV efforts were a drag on its profitability, while Chinese competitors and Tesla leapt ahead with vehicles that sell at volume and with a profit margin.
