Ford’s next-gen ‘Project T3’ EV pickup is coming in 2025

Ford (F) on Friday unveiled it's gearing up for next step in its EV truck business - the Project T3.

Fresh off its "teach-in" describing the new segments of the business, Ford said it’s preparing to build its next-gen electric truck, code-named Project T3, at its upcoming BlueOval City EV vehicle and battery manufacturing complex. The Project T3 will begin production at the West Tennessee plant in 2025.

“Project T3 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionize America’s truck. We are melding 100 years of Ford truck know-how with world-class electric vehicle, software, and aerodynamics talent. It will be a platform for endless innovation and capability,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “PJ O’Rourke once described American pickups as ‘a back porch with an engine attached.’ Well, this new truck is going to be like the Millennium Falcon – with a back porch attached.”

While no other details were given on Project T3’s size or specs, Ford did say T3 stood for “Trust The Truck” – which the development team used as its single guiding principle “to create a truck people can trust in the digital age – one that’s fully updatable, constantly improving, and supports towing, hauling, exportable power” Ford said.

The T3 would be the first made from the ground up, pure electric platform that Ford will be using for a truck. The F-150 Lighting EV pickup uses a retrofitted current-generation F-150 pickup platform as its base.

Ford says when up and running, BlueOval city will employ 6,000 people and will be able to produce 500,000 electric trucks a year. Ford and its battery partner SK On are investing $5.6 billion to develop the BlueOval City complex.

Costs associated with developing EV platforms and building EV and battery assembly plants are why Ford is projecting a $3 billion adjusted EBIT loss for this year in its Model e business unit, Ford said.

Ford shares on Thursday initially popped on the news of the business unit transformation, though the stock rolled over along with the broader market in late trading.

CFRA’s Garrett Nelson shared his thoughts on Ford’s forecast of a big loss in its EV business this year, and the challenges it faces transitioning to pure EVs in a note to clients on Thursday.

"We think the disclosure from the U.S.'s second best selling EV manufacturer reveals a couple of ugly industry truths: 1) we believe no U.S. automaker is making EVs profitably aside from Tesla and 2) EVs are likely to be a material drag on near- and intermediate-term earnings,” Nelson wrote. “Furthermore, with the U.S. EV market likely to become oversaturated in the near future given the number of new models coming to market, sales volumes could disappoint.”

Nelson did say though that Ford reiterating 2023 guidance was a positive, and CFRA views Ford as better positioned than most, with “generous dividends" another bonus for investors.

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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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