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A year ago, Ford announced its intention to bring a roughly $30,000 electric pickup truck to the US market in 2027. With half a year before that year arrives (and probably a bit longer for the actual reveal), we've started to see some prototype models in photos. Some have come from Ford itself, and others from professional spy photographers. Our latest ones come from a total civilian who ran across a couple of them at a Tesla charging station.
It's All About The Charging Port
From what we can tell, this pair of Ford electric pickups was spotted by X user Cyber Odyssey. Both of the trucks are just as heavily camouflaged as other prototypes we've seen, but the fact that they're plugged in and charging reveals a small new fact about them. The trucks are reversed into the parking spaces, and their charge ports are on the driver's rear fender.
This is actually noteworthy, because this location is the same as on Teslas, and many Tesla Supercharger stations are designed with this in mind. As a result, the charging cables at many stations are rather short, and cars that don't have their ports in the left, rear or right, front position have to take up an extra space to be able to use a station. This is a shift from the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, which had their chargers placed on the left, front fender, as neither were necessarily designed with Tesla charger use in mind.
What We Know About Ford's Electric Truck
In the year since Ford announced its new pickup, we have been learning a fair bit about it. Ford itself has already revealed a number of details about it, much of it revolving around new production methods for making it quickly and affordably. Much of the structure is made from enormous cast aluminum components, and the vehicle will be assembled in a way that keeps major sub-assemblies apart longer to make installation of other components easier. Ford will be putting this process into practice when it starts building the pickup at its Louisville, Kentucky factory. Ford will also be producing low-cost lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for the truck. These types of batteries are becoming more common in affordable EVs, including the new Chevy Bolt.
Naturally, we've seen a few camouflaged examples, and we've been able to determine a number of things from them. The new truck is sized similarly to the Maverick, and is potentially even a tad larger. However, despite the coverings, it will have a less truck-like silhouette. The nose is lower, which matches up with a roof that actually drops toward the tail. These design changes will give the truck a distinctive look, but also will likely reduce aerodynamic drag dramatically, which is critical for efficiency and range.
We also strongly suspect that the truck will be called Ranchero. Ford applied for the trademark on the name last year, and the government granted it just a couple of months ago. It's a fitting name, too, as Ford has used it multiple times for car-based pickup trucks from the 1950s into the 1970s. So it doesn't just have history as a Ford nameplate, but as one used on very similar vehicles.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
The Ford electric pickup truck is a big deal for so many reasons. At a time when average new car prices keep climbing, and EVs remain expensive, any $30,000 EV from any established automaker is noteworthy. So far, the Chevy Bolt EV and Nissan Leaf are the only mainstream EV options that are that cheap. The Slate Auto Truck is cheaper, but makes huge sacrifices in standard equipment, has much lower range, and hasn't quite reached customers.
Ford also has a lot riding on this vehicle. It's trying many new things with manufacturing and vehicle development, and has invested literal billions in the effort. Being a low-cost car, it needs to be popular, too, to make back money. If it doesn't resonate with customers or runs into significant issues, that's bad news for Ford.
Source: Cyber Odyssey / X
