Ford is introducing a function in its next-generation electric vehicle platform that lets a vehicle verify its own assembly condition. From the moment the vehicle is powered on, the onboard computer checks connections and immediately alerts workers to assembly errors.

Business Insider reported on Oct. 7 that Ford CEO Jim Farley (짐 팔리) said at the company's Accelerate briefing that the function will be applied to its next-generation universal EV platform. Farley said the vehicle “diagnoses itself” and described it as a different approach from systems in which a vision system checks whether parts are fastened behind workers.

Ford drew a line, saying it is not eliminating factory cameras and external quality inspections. Cameras will continue to be used in the assembly process. What changes is that internal verification in the vehicle is added. Once power is supplied after the paint process, the computer checks whether internal connections are correct and, if there is a problem, notifies workers on the spot.

Farley said the computer determines whether connections are properly made and alerts workers immediately. The auto industry has used off-line inspections or scanners to check various connection states. Ford aims to bring part of that verification process into the vehicle's own system.

The change is also tied to the burden of quality control. Ford has a strong incentive to catch more problems before delivering vehicles to customers. The company issued more than 150 vehicle recalls last year, setting the highest record in the U.S. auto industry. The previous record was 77 recalls set by General Motors in 2014. Based on U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, Ford has recorded 78 recalls this year as well.

Ford has also been highlighting a recent trend of improving new-vehicle quality. The company ranked first in June in the JD Power initial quality study and cited hiring more engineers and bringing back skilled technical workers as factors behind the improvement.

Simplification was also presented as a key pillar of the next-generation EV platform. Ford said the Fathom pickup truck, the first vehicle based on the platform, cut the number of parts by 20 percent, fasteners by 25 percent and work zones by 40 percent compared with existing EV development methods. The fewer the parts and processes, the lower the assembly complexity and the lower the quality-control burden.

Production methods will also change. The Louisville plant will adopt an approach in which three main components of the truck are built separately and then combined at the center, instead of the existing single-flow assembly line. Ford calls it an “assembly tree”. Combining multiple components at the final stage is seen as a change that supports the platform's simplification strategy and its internal verification function.

Since 2024, Ford has also introduced its in-house scanners, AiTriz and MAIVs, at plants. The equipment focuses on finding even small misalignments by combining machine learning and video streaming. Ford said it is highly useful when workers wearing gloves find it difficult to confirm, based only on touch, whether two parts are properly connected.

As a result, Ford's next-generation EV production will shift to a multilayer inspection system that uses external cameras and scanners along with onboard computer verification. Ford plans to disclose additional details on assembly methods for the universal EV platform in January next year.