Ford Universal EV Platform Announced: Innovation Meets Efficiency in New EV Platform, Assembly Process and Midsize Truck

[superdave80]

. The platform’s cobalt-free and nickel-free LFP battery pack is a structural sub-assembly that also serves as the vehicle’s floor.

I'm a little leery of having the words 'battery pack' and 'structural' in the same sentence.

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[Jimrpa]

Just out of curiosity, how much of that 198 kWh went to charging an EV?

Not that I think your point isn't a good one... I use a similar amount of electricity per week as you do in the summer (including my EV charging). But he might have been referring to powering home essentials only...

I didn’t do any type of detailed analysis. I just went into the PECO app and checked my usage.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I’ll be looking to get my son a smallish truck in the next few years. Right now Tacoma is on the top of the list. I’ll Be keeping a close eye on this project.

 

[Mach1E]

They use three parallel assembly lines and completed modular sections (front, rear, and battery) that bolt together near the end instead of doing everything on a single line start to finish. Made possible by unicast sections and a structural battery pack. This saves a lot of time and steps during production. It means less workers are needed.

https://www.fastcompany.com/9138397...able-evs-starting-with-a-30000-electric-truck

I read the article, but don’t see how this equates to less workers needed (unless they’re using more robots).

It says the 3 lines make it faster (3 things being done at the same time would be) and that workers won’t have to bend and twist as much. But I don’t see how this equals less workers (unless there are more robots).

And none of this seems revolutionary.

Is this like how one handy man can do the job of 12 union workers?

I remember touring the BMW factory in Spartanburg, SC 25 years ago. And what’s being described sounds a whole lot like what I saw at the BMW plant way back then….. but way more automated with robots. I was also impressed that they only ever had 4 hours of parts inventory on hand at any time (which worked out great until 2020, but that’s a whole other topic).
This is what the BMW plant looks like with “less workers needed.”

 

[ESJB]

I read the article, but don’t see how this equates to less workers needed (unless they’re using more robots).

Fewer workers is implied: because this Ford's cheaper method of building a car, and labour is a big part of the cost, therefore less labour.

As to the robots. My take is, they're shaking up the entire process to let robots do robot things, and let humans do human things.

The current industry is making robots do human things, perhaps as if they were mechanical humans. Which only goes so far, as Tesla found with the 'flufferbot'. This is more a re-architecting of the production line at a fundamental level.

I think, aside from cost, the other (non-obvious) benefit will be quality. Both from a "less to do" and "taking human factors into account" side, but also from "this is new so let's embed a quality culture from the start". Jim Farley is an ex-Lexus guy so he gets it.

 

[ESJB]

As to the robots. My take is, they're shaking up the entire process to let robots do robot things, and let humans do human things.

The current industry is making robots do human things, perhaps as if they were mechanical humans. Which only goes so far, as Tesla found with the 'flufferbot'. This is more a re-architecting of the production line at a fundamental level.

Just to riff on this idea a bit more.

I have a robot in my kitchen. In fact it's working for me right now. It's my dishwasher.

Under the classical factory production idea, a "robot dishwasher" would be this humanoid (wearing an apron) that picks up the dishes with its robot arms, gives them a scrub and a rinse, then puts them on the drying rack.

But no. My "robot dishwasher" is just a big box with spraying hot water jets. I get to load and unload the dishes myself. But I'm a human and can handle that. The dishwasher is great at spraying hot water. Between us we get everything reliably clean and the human is satisfied.

My bet is, Ford is being smart about this (and by the way, this is what you Americans have, that the rest of us don't: American ingenuity). So possibly fewer robot arms, but more where they matter.

 

[azulejost]

Better be 800V architecture or DOA.

As it is an LFP battery and designed for cost savings, I highly doubt 800V is going to be part of this.

 

[azulejost]

We have a 20-year-old Tacoma that really should be replaced. This would be a good candidate if there is a long bed version. Without that, it's a hard pass.

The Maverick has an optional bed extender and built-in bed slots to assist with carrying longer loads. I would definitely not anticipate multiple bed lengths on this project as the only economical way that would be done would be extending the rear overhang which would look quite awkward.

 

[azulejost]

And sadly they no longer make the Escape. In fact, Louisville was where the Escape was built. Would love to see an EV replacement for the Escape. Perhaps by 2028? (I feel GM is going to own this segment in the EV space with the Equinox and Ford better watch out).

Given the Escape volume, I suspect the next Escape production is merely going to be shift to another plant; they can’t give up > 100,000 units/yr even if it’s a vastly outdated, uncompetitive, and hideous design in its current refreshed state. Hopefully the next Escape has a cohesive look like the 2nd gen and not cheap and poorly proportioned look as this 3rd gen has increasingly developed over its lifespan.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

The Maverick has an optional bed extender and built-in bed slots to assist with carrying longer loads. I would definitely not anticipate multiple bed lengths on this project as the only economical way that would be done would be extending the rear overhang which would look quite awkward.

Long bed or another it's another Tacoma. Those are the two choices. Bed extenders do not work for a ranch truck. Period.

 

[MiketheCarGeek]

Any word on what they are going to do with the nearly finished Blue oval city plant in Stanton, TN?

T3 (Tennessee Plant) is delayed until 2028 (was 2025, then 2027)
I suspect they have made it into an EREV or PHEV that combines Gas and Plug-In.

Any word on what they are going to do with the nearly finished Blue oval city plant in Stanton, TN?

 

[Jimrpa]

I read the article, but don’t see how this equates to less workers needed (unless they’re using more robots).

It says the 3 lines make it faster (3 things being done at the same time would be) and that workers won’t have to bend and twist as much. But I don’t see how this equals less workers (unless there are more robots).

And none of this seems revolutionary.

Is this like how one handy man can do the job of 12 union workers?

I remember touring the BMW factory in Spartanburg, SC 25 years ago. And what’s being described sounds a whole lot like what I saw at the BMW plant way back then….. but way more automated with robots. I was also impressed that they only ever had 4 hours of parts inventory on hand at any time (which worked out great until 2020, but that’s a whole other topic).
This is what the BMW plant looks like with “less workers needed.”

The UAW is vehemently anti-robot. I believe their contracts with the big 3 either ban robots or require that robots not offset human worker jobs. To be fair, US automakers have leveraged automation as much as they can, but…

 

[azulejost]

I agree with the seemingly majority that this was not a “Model T moment.” Taking the strategic advantages other manufacturers have already been doing and saying the same things about LFP batteries that was said in 202–2021 if not earlier, is not progress. Producing prismatic LFP batteries in Michigan does hold promise from a cost and control of raw materials standpoint, but the weight penalty for equivalent range is still going to be an issue. I don’t think the average non-EV owning American is willing to accept < 300 mi range and that’s going to require a minimum of 75 kWh but likely closer to 85-90 kWh like our Mach-Es.

Other manufacturers already build the floor section of the car then marry the top to it, have subassemblies for the front and rear, and have modular architechtures for streamlining vehicle platform variants. A more unified software system may be helpful much like the often cited excess of wires and plumbing on Mach-Es (particularly pre-heat pump), but if the software integration isn’t improved from how it has been, then there will be even more headaches. VW’s Cariad can’t seem to get out of its own way which led, in part, to their collaboration with Rivian.

I certainly hope this works for Ford, but it seems far less a big moment and far more a foolish marketing, PR move that in 3-5 years, the industry will look back on and cite as yet another bad example of how to do things. Just like all of the companies walking back the all EV by 2030-2035 from around 2-3 years ago.

 

[azulejost]

Long bed or another it's another Tacoma. Those are the two choices. Bed extenders do not work for a ranch truck. Period.

Understand those are your requirements, but that’s not Ford’s goal here. There are going to be some major compromises such as manufacturing simplification to limit the number of possible configurations leading to a far from perfect for everyone but hopefully competitive enough entry level EV as Ford can’t wait until Gen 3 EVs to reduce their Model e losses and ideally move toward breaking even and profitability.

 

[MellowJohnny]

lol, I get your enthusiasm but this is Ford we are talking about which unfortunately has been run by boneheads for a number of years and is slowly morphing into Isuzu and will end being a truck / transit only company with limited offering the way they are going.

The ice parts of cars are knocked out with little issue and quickly, there really is nothing magical about an ev that makes then simpler than ice, replacing the power source with another just brings with it another set of components, which if it was so simple there would haven't been need of any mach-e recalls

I have a soft spot for Fords, but the company needs a serious rethink if they want to stay relevant in the ev space they have already canned and about turned on previous ev models and have now thrown all the eggs into this ce1 platform, which as a platform is already looking outdated being 400v, which is fine if everything being built on it is going to be low cost entry level pricing with small battery size and range.

They really need to hit the ground running with the one place where it being an EV should make it simpler is swapping out the tap hat and this is where Ford should have the manufacturing edge and have the other models ready to go out the gate, as not everyone wants a truck the same as not everyone wants a crossover / SUV but if you have both at launch you have a better chance of retaining and gaining customers.

Maybe over the next few months they will show more to drum up interest, but for a supposed model T moment as far as the market is concerned this announcement didn't move the needle.

The English teacher in me can’t help but notice every single paragraph you wrote was a run-on sentence. Impressive.

But more to the point - who do you think is doing a better job? Hyundai/KIA? Probably. This is their “serious re-think” - right now there is no tangible product yet, so how do you know it will fail? There are no range numbers yet, no charging time numbers yet, no definitive architecture announcement, no MSRP yet…no nothing. Companies don’t invest $5 billion dollars without doing a bit of research first. They obviously think they’ll sell a lot of small EV pickup trucks. I doubt they will be too far off if they deliver a product people want.

Would you prefer the Elon Musk approach to product vapourware announcements?

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