Ford's electric truck should be a great truck first, EV second

What if the best thing an electric truck can do is stop talking about being electric? That is, in effect, Ford's pitch for its upcoming pickup, and we think it is the smartest thing the company has said about EVs in years.

Here is the backdrop. The US has not been kind to big electric trucks. Business Insider reported that Cybertruck sales fell 45% year over year to 3,500 units in the first quarter of 2026. The F-150 Lightning has been discontinued, and Ford's US EV sales fell 57.4% in the first half, according to Business Insider via Yahoo. Ford's answer is a midsize electric pickup due in 2027, with a target starting price of about $30,000. That is a target, not a final sticker price.

The Lightning failed on price, not on electrons

In 2025, a gas F-150 started at around $38,000, while the electric one started in the mid-$50,000 range, according to that same report. Nobody was asking for a truck that cost far more to do the same job. The pitch was "it's electric," and for most truck buyers that is a feature, not a reason to buy.

Ford's new framing reverses this. The truck is meant to compete with the gas Maverick on price, to offer more passenger space than a Toyota RAV4, and to accelerate about as quickly as a Mustang EcoBoost, per Ford's own claims. Ford also projects a five-year ownership cost lower than a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y. Those are claims, and we will wait for real tests. But the logic is sound: space, speed and cost first. The powertrain comes along for the ride.

Cheap engineering, not a giant battery, is the real story

The most interesting part is how Ford plans to get there. As ACT News summarized, the company is leaning on efficiency rather than oversized packs: more than 15% less aerodynamic drag than current pickups, LFP cells made in Michigan, large aluminum castings and a zonal electrical architecture. Ford also says 20% fewer parts and 40% fewer workstations.

We find this more convincing than another range war. The Silverado EV lists a GM-estimated 478 miles of range, but it starts at $61,900. That is impressive engineering for a buyer pool that, judging by the sales numbers, mostly isn't there. Ford has not disclosed official range yet, and we would rather see a sensible figure at a sensible price than a record at a luxury one.

The risk: a "small" truck in a country of big ones

There is a catch. Electrek notes that Ford itself admitted the truck is "small," and Car and Driver's look at the prototype suggests a size and shape similar to the Maverick, with a shorter hood. For buyers who want F-150 towing, that is a different product. We suspect Ford knows it, and that the Maverick comparison is deliberate: it positions the truck as an affordable daily driver with a bed, not a work-site monster.

The other risk is the market itself. US electric-car sales were still 20.5% below a year earlier in the second quarter, per Cox Automotive figures cited above. A great truck at $30,000 can't fix a cooling market on its own, and the target price must survive contact with production.

Our verdict

Ford is right to bury the EV label. The Lightning, Cybertruck and Silverado EV showed that big, pricey electric trucks sell to a narrow audience. If Ford delivers a roomy, quick, cheap pickup that happens to plug in, it will have learned the correct lesson. If the price drifts upward, it will have just built another expensive electric truck with better marketing. Our advice to readers: ignore the spec-sheet hype, and wait for the final price and official range before putting down a deposit.