Ford's affordable electric ute spotted for the first time

Ford's new affordable electric ute, which is based on the company’s new Universal EV platform, has been filmed while testing on the streets of Long Beach, California.

The Autopian was tipped off about the compact battery-powered dual-cab doing one of its first real-world tests, and chased it around on foot. The publication managed to film the ute from all angles, and even saw inside the cargo bed.

Although the prototype is clad in a disguise wrap, and is fitted with some false body panels, especially at the top of the bed and around the rear of the passenger cab, we can clearly see it has a fairly conventional dual-cab pickup silhouette.

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The most radical thing we can see with the design, at this stage, is the steeply raked windscreen. Up front there seems to be a chunky set of headlights, although the grille and bonnet are completely disguised.

Other visible features include traditional pull-out door handles, Zeekr 7X-style wing mirrors, and slab sides. There are also wheel covers to help with aerodynamic efficiency.

The cargo bed on this prototype is completely unlined, and seems to be quite short, prioritising passenger comfort over cargo-carrying volume. 

The prototype was led around by an F-150, and was being tailed by Mazda B-Series (a rebadged Ford Ranger from the 1990s). Having these two vehicles in such close proximity to the electric ute gives us a sense of its proportions.

It looks to be a little longer than the two-door B-Series following it, which was just shy of 4.7m in length. The EV ute does look to be quite a bit wider and taller, although it's nowhere near the size of the F-150 or, indeed, even a modern Ranger.

It's quite possible the new ute will be smaller than the Escape-based Maverick, which is 5.07m long.

Tipped to be branded as the Ranchero, the new electric ute is scheduled to debut at the end of 2026 before going into production in 2027. It will be priced from US$30,000 (A$43,000), potentially making it one of the cheapest vehicles in Ford's American lineup.

At present the Blue Oval's US range kicks off with the Maverick dual-cab hybrid, which begins at US$28,145 (A$40,200), and the Escape medium SUV that is priced from US$30,350 (A$43,400).

The new ute will be the first vehicle based on Ford’s Universal EV Platform being developed by a skunkworks team. New production techniques, including gigacasting, as well as lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries and cost-effective electric motors, are said to help bring the price down and make it competitive with petrol-powered cars.

From 2028 the ute will be offered with eyes-off Level 3 autonomous driving. According to Ford Authority the ute will be available with both rear- and all-wheel drive.

Despite the downturn in the American EV market, Ford is planning a number of other models based on the Universal EV platform, including two- and three-row SUVs, small and mid-size sedans, and a van. It's unknown when all of these other models will debut.

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