> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.verydriver.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Ford Reveals $28,350 Midsize Electric Truck "Fathom" on UEV Platform Built in Secret - URL: https://www.verydriver.com/ford-reveals-the-fathom-electric-truck-starting-at-28-350/ - Published: 2026-08-07T07:27:46.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-07T23:00:07.000Z - Author: Very Driver - Tags: Automotive Industry, Vehicle Overviews Ford has named its new midsize electric pickup the Fathom, with a starting price of $28,350\. Add the $1,595 destination and delivery fee, and the price reaches $29,945\. That keeps Ford under the $30,000 target it set for its affordable electric vehicle push. Pre-orders open in early 2027, with deliveries following later that year. Ford has not shown what the truck looks like yet. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--30--1.webp) Ford says the Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform is more than 15% more aerodynamically efficient than any pickup today. Prototype illustration: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2025/ford-reinvents-vehicle-assembly-new-production-system-platform?ref=verydriver.com) ## Ford's New UEV Platform Ford developed the UEV platform through a secret California skunkworks unit, launched back in 2022\. The team is made up of over 500 engineers with the goal of making electric trucks cost-competitive with gas models, and EV leaders from China and Tesla. Rather than adapt an existing vehicle, Ford built the platform from the ground up and designed it to be flexible enough to underpin trucks, cars, and other body styles further down the line. Ford is framing the effort as a Model T moment and backing it with a $5 billion investment. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/Ford_Universal_EV_Platform_16x9.gif) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2025/ford-reinvents-vehicle-assembly-new-production-system-platform?ref=verydriver.com) The company wants every UEV vehicle to turn a profit within a year of launch and to stay price-competitive with the cheapest global EVs. It also sees the platform as the path to bring its Model e unit to breakeven by 2029 after years of heavy losses. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cq5dam.web.1280.1280--2-.jpeg) F-150 Lightning Production - Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/search-results?q=F-150%20Lightning&ref=verydriver.com) Ford reported $19.5 billion in restructuring charges tied to its electric vehicles last year. It confirmed the end of the F-150 Lightning on December 15, 2025, after finding no path to profitability, leaving the Mustang Mach-E as Ford's only current EV on sale in the U.S. The F-150 Lightning will return later as an extended-range electric vehicle. The Fathom arrives despite a broad slowdown in EV adoption across the market and the end of federal EV tax credits. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cq5dam.web.1280.1280--4-.jpeg) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/search-results?q=F-150%20Lightning&ref=verydriver.com) ## What We Know About the Fathom The Fathom seats five and is comparable in size to the Maverick. Ford projects more passenger volume than a Toyota RAV4\. Standard equipment includes a large high-resolution touch screen with Apple Maps navigation, bidirectional power, a digital key, and both a frunk and a bed for cargo. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--28-.webp) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/search-results?q=F-150%20Lightning&ref=verydriver.com) The standard-range battery uses lithium iron phosphate chemistry, which is cheaper and more durable than traditional lithium-ion. The Fathom runs a 400-volt battery system with a 48-volt auxiliary architecture that replaces the traditional 12-volt setup, similar to the Tesla Cybertruck. The battery also doubles as a structural floor for the truck. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--37--1.webp) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/search-results?q=F-150%20Lightning&ref=verydriver.com) Ford has not confirmed range yet, but Kay Hart, general manager of Ford Model e, hinted at a 300-mile extended-range version. Ford also says owners will get access to Tesla's Supercharger network. Ford claims the Fathom will hit 0-60 mph as quickly as an EcoBoost Mustang while generating more aerodynamic downforce. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--32-.webp) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2026/2025-bluecruise-trends-hands-free-usage-skyrockets?ref=verydriver.com) ## BlueCruise Costs Extra Every Fathom is BlueCruise capable, with BlueCruise integration for Apple Maps. But the base model is only capable, not active. Owners have to pay extra to switch the hands-free driving system on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/Screen-Shot-2026-08-07-at-2.18.25-AM.png) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.verydriver.com/2027-jeep-wrangler-and-gladiator-sarge-pay-tribute-to-1941-military-heritage/) ## Where the Name Fathom Came From The industry, and Ford itself, often names vehicles with an alphanumeric code that signals a trim or a spec. Think F-150\. For the Fathom, Ford wanted a real name that gave the truck personality. A fathom is a unit of length equal to six feet, originally the span of a person's outstretched arms. Sailors used that span to measure the depth of water they could not see the bottom of. The word also means to understand something completely. Ford says the truck started with a deep understanding of one buyer, so a name about measuring what you cannot see and coming to understand it matched the brief. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/VERYDRIVER.gif) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.verydriver.com/2027-jeep-wrangler-and-gladiator-sarge-pay-tribute-to-1941-military-heritage/) Landing on the "Fathom" name took Ford nine months. The team combed archives, weighing names from the Galaxie and Taurus to the Ranchero, the car-truck hybrid that predated the El Camino. Fathom sat in a file with hundreds of other options, and two Ford copywriters landed on it separately. Before each round of cuts, the naming team walked the floor and asked as many as 15 engineers to pick a favorite. One engineer who fit the truck's target buyer kept choosing the eventual winner before every meeting. Fathom survived every cut, pulled ahead with focus groups, and that engineer was the first to hear it had won. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--29-.webp) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2025/ford-reinvents-vehicle-assembly-new-production-system-platform?ref=verydriver.com) ## How Ford Builds It The cost savings behind the Fathom come from simplification. The UEV platform uses 20% fewer parts than a typical vehicle, 25% fewer fasteners, and 40% fewer workstations on the plant floor. Large single-piece castings, which Ford calls unicastings, replace 146 discrete parts found on today's Maverick. The wiring harness is more than three-quarters of a mile shorter than the Mach-E's and about 22 pounds lighter. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/image.jpg) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2025/ford-reinvents-vehicle-assembly-new-production-system-platform?ref=verydriver.com) Ford is also splitting the traditional assembly line into three branches it calls an assembly tree. The front and rear build on separate lines, while a third line assembles the structural battery along with seats, consoles, and carpeting. The three sub-assemblies then join to form the vehicle. Parts arrive at workers in pre-organized kits, and the process speeds assembly by up to 40% while cutting the twisting and reaching of a normal line. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--34-.webp) Ford President and CEO Jim Farley at Louisville Assembly Plant. Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2025/ford-reinvents-vehicle-assembly-new-production-system-platform?ref=verydriver.com) ## Built in Kentucky Ford is putting roughly $2 billion into the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky. The plant previously built the gas-powered Escape and Lincoln Corsair, and the investment secures about 2,200 hourly jobs. Another $3 billion goes to BlueOval Battery Park Michigan. Ford will build the LFP batteries there rather than import them from China. To do that, Ford is licensing the battery technology from Chinese maker CATL and producing the cells domestically. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--33-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/Screen-Shot-2026-08-07-at-4.22.54-AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--28--1.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--36-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.768.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/94/f99452cd-a930-4f25-894c-20551819444a/content/images/2026/08/cqdam.web.2400--35-.webp) Media: [Ford From the Road](https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2025/ford-reinvents-vehicle-assembly-new-production-system-platform?ref=verydriver.com)