Ford believes it has an edge over China with its new affordable EV platform
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- Ford's new Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform will debut with a four-door midsize electric pickup starting at around $30,000, with prototype testing on public roads ahead of a planned 2027 launch.
- CEO Jim Farley said the platform delivers 20-30% efficiency gains, crediting improved aerodynamics and smaller batteries, and noted more than half the California-based aerodynamics team came from Formula 1.
- Ford claimed its upcoming pickup is 15% more aerodynamically efficient than any truck sold in the US, and would offer 30% range improvement on highways versus the most aerodynamically efficient midsize gas truck.
- Ford is using prismatic LFP batteries licensed from China's CATL for US production and gigacasting to slash the pickup's parts count from 146 (current Maverick) to just two, giving it more passenger space than a Toyota RAV4.
- BYD registered over 26,000 vehicles in Europe last month, up 158% from May 2025, while Ford registered 18,105 vehicles, down 32% year-over-year, per ACEA data cited in the article.
- BYD surpassed Ford in global vehicle sales last year and now offers a Blade Battery 2.0 with up to 600 km WLTP range and fast charging in under 10 minutes.
- Ford may bring the UEV platform to Europe via its Renault partnership, though that expansion likely won't come until after 2028.
Why it matters: Ford's F1-engineering bet arrives as BYD's European registrations surged 158% year-over-year to 26,000+ vehicles last month, while Ford's dropped 32% to 18,105. With the 2027 pickup still dependent on CATL-licensed LFP battery technology, Ford's efficiency claims need to translate into real cost advantages before BYD's 600-km range and sub-10-minute charging become the European default.
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