Farley made the comments after Ford revealed its electric vehicle division posted a loss of around $1.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025. Sales of the company’s top two EVs, the F-150 Lightning and the Mustang Mach-E, are declining, all while things are looking increasingly tough for electric vehicles under the second Trump administration.

Farley first revealed that Ford had a skunkworks team developing a low-cost electric vehicle in February 2024. As TechCrunch first reported, the effort is being led by former Tesla executive Alan Clarke, and the team is brimming with talent from companies like Tesla, Rivian, Apple, and Lucid Motors.

The company has been deliberately vague about any specifics, but has admitted that the first vehicle to be built on this new low-cost platform will be a mid-size pickup truck set for release in 2027. Ford has said it will build “multiple vehicle styles — for both retail and commercial customers” on the platform, and that these vehicles will feature “personalized digital experiences.”

Cheaper models could help Ford, but 2027 is still a long way out.

While there are basically no mass-market electric vehicles available in the U.S. at or under $30,000, that likely won’t be the case when Ford’s secretive EVs hit the market in two years. Tesla has said it will start selling a stripped-down (and possibly smaller) Model Y SUV later this year. General Motors is bringing back the Chevy Bolt next year. And Jeff Bezos-backed startup Slate Auto is putting its own low-cost electric pickup on sale as early as late 2026.