Putting all of your chips in is usually a desperate move if your a gambler. The thought of being forced into an all or nothing play in a bid to recoup your losses is a position few want to find themselves in.

Unfortunately for Ford, it’s now in that predicament as its push in to the EV market has been met with losses and lukewarm demand for some of its products including the Ford F-150 Lighting. The company is undeterred though and it has confirmed it’s not only doubling down on its commitment to the EV market, but that it will also be using a new mid-size pickup model to debut an all-new EV platform.

New platform to spearhead EV efforts

A key part of Ford’s plan is the debut of an all-new EV platform. While the company has made use of other platforms in the past for its current EV lineup, they have never had a true link to each other and were often seen as separate players in Ford showrooms. This is now changing with the debut of the Ford Universal EV platform. The company says the new platform will allow it to build EVs at scale for customers while also providing a flexible platform that can be adapted for a wide range of vehicle segments.

While we get to wait to see just how far it will test the platform’s abilities, Ford did reveal that the first model built on the new platform will be a new mid-size truck. The new truck will be the first mid-size EV pickup the company has ever built with reps saying the new offering will be faster than a Ford Mustang EcoBoost and not only have a bed for hauling things but also a frunk with the truck also projected to have more passenger space than a Toyota RAV4.

Ford also revealed the new truck will start at about $30,000. If this pricing endures the headwinds of tariffs and other changing market conditions, it would put pressure on rivals including upstart firm Slate which is trying to launch a budget mid-size truck of its own.

Better methods of assembly

In addition to the new platform, Ford will also be redefining the production process for these new vehicles. Instead of the familiar one conveyor system that is typically used in an automotive assembly plant, the Ford Universal EV platform will be produced in three sub-assembly lines that eventually converge together in what it calls “an assembly tree.” Large single piece aluminum uni-castings cut down on the number of small parts needed and allow the front and rear of the vehicle to be assembled separately.

These two pieces are later joined with the third piece (the structural battery) to form the vehicle with the Structural battery being assembled with the interior and other pieces before being joined with the other two unicast pieces. The employees in each branch of the tree get a kit that comes with the components, scanners, and power tools needed for the job with the kits also presenting these items in the correct orientation for ease of use.

“We put or employees at the center and recreated the factory from scratch” said Bryce Currie, Ford Vice President, American Manufacturing. “We live and breathe continuous improvement, but sometimes you need a dramatic leap forward. We expect ergonomic breakthroughs and complexity reduction – through elimination of parts, connectors, and wire – will flow through to significant quality and cost wins.”

Investments form the last piece of the puzzle.

The last core component of these plans are two major investments that will spearhead this ambitious plan. Ford’s Louisville, Kentucky plant will receive $2 billion to transform the assembly space to help accommodate production of the new EV pickup which will also help add 2,200 jobs to the facility. This investment is paired with a separate $3 billion investment into Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan which will produce the LFP Prismatic batteries that will power the new pickup.