[Digital Today intern reporter Seungah Yoo] Ford has unveiled the name, price and launch schedule for its next-generation electric pickup truck, the Fathom. The base price is $28,350. The starting price including a $1,595 delivery fee is $29,945, below $30,000.

On Aug. 6 (local time), foreign media including electric-vehicle outlet InsideEVs reported that Ford plans to open reservations and fully unveil the vehicle in early 2027. It plans to begin customer deliveries in the fall of that year.

The Fathom is a midsize electric pickup that first applies Ford’s new Universal EV platform (UEV). The dedicated platform is designed to be applied across multiple electric vehicles (EVs). It aims to reduce costs through a new assembly process. This is a key project Ford CEO Jim Farley (짐 팔리) has pushed to catch up with Tesla and Chinese EV makers. He has expressed opposition to Chinese-made EVs entering the U.S. market.

The Fathom is seen as a model that effectively restarts Ford’s EV strategy. Ford booked $19.5 billion in impairment losses related to an EV project that was cancelled in 2025 and adjusted its strategy to align with changes to the federal EV tax credit and fuel economy rules. As it discontinued the F-150 Lightning due to profitability issues, its U.S. passenger EV lineup was left with only the Mustang Mach-E, and the Fathom will be its second all-electric pickup after the Lightning. Including the Ranger EV, which was produced in limited numbers in the late 1990s, it is the third electric pickup.

The name also departs from past practice. Kay Hart (케이 하트), head of Ford’s Model e business, said Fathom is both a unit for measuring water depth and carries the meaning of “to understand deeply,” and explained that it symbolizes a new level of innovation across engineering, manufacturing and design. Hart added that the fact 1 fathom is about 6 feet (about 182 cm) does not refer to the bed length. The Fathom extends a new naming system that includes Fuse, Hive, Mythic and Evos, for which trademarks were filed last year.

The Fathom’s biggest competitive edge is its price. The sub-$30,000 starting price is similar to the Ford Maverick pickup and is competitive with mass-market EVs such as the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf. The Slate pickup, the cheapest EV in the United States, starts at $26,400 including shipping, but it is a bare-bones specification that excludes manual windows as well as a touchscreen and even speakers.

The Fathom, by contrast, significantly strengthens standard equipment. Its five-seat interior is roomier than the Toyota RAV4, and it comes standard with a large high-resolution touchscreen and Apple Maps. It supports automatic charger recommendations, real-time traffic information and EV route guidance, and also offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It does not support CarPlay Ultra. Bidirectional charging, a digital key and a frunk are also standard.

Ford’s hands-free driver assistance system, BlueCruise, comes with hardware installed as standard on all trims. Actual use of the function requires an additional cost. Ford aims to add a feature that supports supervised driving from origin to destination, and it is targeting 2028 to implement a stage that does not require the driver to watch the road ahead.

Battery capacity, range on a single charge and fast-charging performance have not yet been disclosed. The base price is based on the standard battery, and an extended-range battery model is also likely to be added. Hart said the company knows there is customer demand for a 300-mile (about 483 km) driving range and said it would offer a range of choices at launch.

The battery uses prismatic lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells produced at the BlueOval Battery Park Michigan. The plant, which cost a total of $3 billion, uses CATL technology under a licensing arrangement. The vehicle will be produced at Ford’s Louisville plant in Kentucky using a new “assembly tree” process.

Ford drew a line on the possibility of internal competition with the Maverick Hybrid, saying the customer bases are different. Hart said the Fathom is a lifestyle-focused electric pickup rather than a work truck and is a vehicle whose software and hardware can be continuously developed over time.

The Fathom and the UEV platform have been developed in secrecy for several years. They are based on a project that Farley assigned to former Tesla executive Alan Clarke (앨런 클라크). Personnel with backgrounds at Rivian, Tesla and Apple’s car project are reported to have led development at a Los Angeles team separated from headquarters.

With the average price of a new car in the United States reaching $50,000, the sub-$30,000 price reflects Ford’s cost innovation strategy. The electric pickup market, however, still has limited growth momentum. Even at its peak quarter, the F-150 Lightning sold only about 10,000 units, and Tesla’s Cybertruck has also seen sales slow after its initial buzz. Even so, Ford is aiming for a rebound in the electric pickup market by using the dedicated-platform Fathom to improve range, efficiency and space utilization. Detailed specifications are to be officially disclosed in early 2027.