New specs & video on midsized Ford EV truck

[bartflossom]

Article & Video:
https://www.maverickevforum.com/for...-48v-lfp-battery-gigacasting-much-more.15775/

Admin addendum: you can 1-click copy/create your account to affiliate site at: https://www.slateforums.com/forum/account/copy​

The fact that they are still hiding the actual body of the truck makes me think they aren't getting good reactions from truck owning focus groups on its looks. I think it'll probably be low and look more like a car with a tacked on bed similar to the Hyundai Santa Cruz. I'm thinking the bed might be only 4' long too.

I am impressed with the lfp batteries and 48v architecture though. Your thoughts?

 

[<3 Crank Windows]

I don't think that's necessarily the case. They could just be building up anticipation. They got a runaway hit with the Maverick and its design (and of course the F-150) so they know very well what buyers of their trucks like. And they've seen the sales failure that the Santa Cruz is.

 

[DC Drew]

Powered NACS port door spotted.

 

[beatle]

Article & Video:
https://www.maverickevforum.com/for...unty-hunters-the-pursuit-of-efficiency.15775/

Admin addendum: you can 1-click copy/create your account to affiliate site at: https://www.slateforums.com/forum/account/copy​

The fact that they are still hiding the actual body of the truck makes me think they aren't getting good reactions from truck owning focus groups on its looks. I think it'll probably be low and look more like a car with a tacked on bed similar to the Hyundai Santa Cruz. I'm thinking the bed might be only 4' long too.

I am impressed with the lfp batteries and 48v architecture though. Your thoughts?

Given how poorly the LFP batteries have been going for Rivian, I am not encouraged by them right now. They have more unpredictable range due to the flat voltage, and capacity gets absolutely slammed in the cold. As someone who is familiar with NMC batteries in the cold and understands that there is a reduction, even that expectation gets shattered with the data on LFP range in the cold.

48v architecture is probably inevitable for cost savings, but it can make upfitting the truck more difficult as you either need to step down the voltage to 12v, or run 48v native electronics that are mostly vaporware. Eventually the market will adapt, but there will probably be a bumpy transition period.

I think you're right about the design probably not testing well in focus groups. Farley calling it a " Millennium Falcon with a back porch attached" doesn't inspire confidence. Neither does his statement, "'Our first body style will be a pickup, but it’s really not a pickup,' Farley said. 'I would say it’s a new silhouette. What I mean by that is that it has more room than a RAV4, the best-selling passenger car in the U.S. That doesn’t include its frunk and pickup truck bed.'"

I think it will be more like a ute and less like a truck. I like some utes, but I think it will be tough to convince traditional truck owners. A curvy Cybertruck with a very cab forward design wouldn't be out of the question.

 

[Whitesands]

My guess is it will look more like the Tesla Pick-up than a truck. Unfortunately, while aluminum is lighter and the unicasting will save the manufacture money, it will make repairs more expensive to more likely to total the vehicle in a small crash.
It looks like it will be more of a direct competitor to Slate than anything else Ford makes.

 

[E90400K]

"For the first time, customers will experience a fully electric vehicle charging ecosystem designed in-house by Ford using our own software."

This statement is going to lock the brains of the members over at the Macheforum.com forum.

 

[E90400K]

My guess is it will look more like the Tesla Pick-up than a truck. Unfortunately, while aluminum is lighter and the unicasting will save the manufacture money, it will make repairs more expensive to more likely to total the vehicle in a small crash.
It looks like it will be more of a direct competitor to Slate than anything else Ford makes.

Waiting for WhistlinDiesel to break off the rear tow hitch!

 

[mthulhu]

I think you're right about the design probably not testing well in focus groups. Farley calling it a " Millennium Falcon with a back porch attached" doesn't inspire confidence. Neither does his statement, "'Our first body style will be a pickup, but it’s really not a pickup,' Farley said. 'I would say it’s a new silhouette. What I mean by that is that it has more room than a RAV4, the best-selling passenger car in the U.S. That doesn’t include its frunk and pickup truck bed.'"

That description sounds crazy. I hope they stick to their guns and we get to see whatever this means. I feel like focus groups just keep us locked into shitty trends like 12” tablet dashes. That’s easy for me to say though. My job doesn't depend on this thing’s broad success lol.

 

[beatle]

Sounds like Ford is trying to find a new "MAYA" point. If the design is too familiar, it's boring, forgettable, and doesn't provide enough innovation to move things along. You could say the F150 Lightning is like this. I bought one thinking it would handle well and be more fun to drive than a regular F150. I found it kind of boring, though if you were already an F150 fan, I think it was a great option. Or if it's too novel, people get overwhelmed with the differences (Cybertruck, touchscreen everything) and reject it. I do think touchscreens have a place in a vehicle, but they're not everything.

Finding an acceptable, but novel design can be harder for an old brand like Ford to do, especially for a product that has been their bread and butter for so long. Note that the Ranger and Maverick don't stray too far from Ford's F150 design language. That's definitely on purpose.

 

[bloo]

Another four-door midsize SUV family hauler.

All these bold ideas, yet Ford still can't think outside the box.

 

[Driven5]

There are some interesting tidbits in there, although I'm not sold on large aluminum casting structural field repairs just yet.

I get the rationale, but If that's the actual body shape under the stream lines in the CFD silhouette, it seems pretty 'meh'. That rounded over of a nose is going to be difficult to make look good.

 

[beatle]

I actually hadn't watched the video until now, but it has a few clues.

This shows a profile in a wind tunnel sim:

It's actually not as dramatic as a curvy Cybertruck, though the domed roof kinda makes you think that. Rivian has a roof that appears square but has a spoiler towards the rear to give it a more traditional boxy shape, while the roof actually slopes back to give it an aero edge. They have this on the R2 as well:

The Ford's side mirrors are pretty cool. They appear to have frameless glass kind of like the Polestar 2. There aren't too many good angles of them in the video, but you can sort of see them here:

I was a little disappointed to hear it would still be 400v, but I'm guessing that's to keep the costs down. 800v parts can be pretty expensive.

Powered NACS port door spotted.

Thank God for this! I can't count the number of times I left the charging port open on my Lightning or my partner's Mach-E.

 

[beatle]

There are some interesting tidbits in there, although I'm not sold on large aluminum casting structural field repairs just yet.

I get the rationale, but If that's the actual body shape under the stream lines in the CFD silhouette, it seems pretty 'meh'. That rounded over of a nose is going to be difficult to make look good.

I think it'll be a little different but still look okay. Ford usually gets at least a base hit with the looks of their designs, though the Mach-E is a little polarizing. Here are a couple renderings, though I don't really trust that they actually match up with the wind tunnel sim picture even though I asked for them to do that:

 

[Driven5]

I don't really trust that they actually match up with the wind tunnel sim picture even though I asked for them to do that:

They don't...

That nose is even more rounded than the pre-facelift 2nd gen Ridgeline...

 

[cadblu]

From Ford’s article on their EV truck:

“Our big bet for electric vehicles? Obsessing over the vehicle as a system to get more miles out of a smaller battery and radically simplifying the system to reduce the number of parts so we can deliver a new family of affordable electric vehicles to driveways around the world.”

Sound familiar? 🧐