Ford made waves when it revealed plans to enter the lower-priced EV market with a new pickup. The move was not only a pivot away from the high-priced Lightning, but also a visual admission that Ford needed to shift aspects of its EV strategy. Not much was revealed about the truck, but this is slowly changing, with the company revealing it will be called the Fathom.

Fathom attempts to bridge the price gap

Ford admitted it thought about reviving classic Ford nameplates for the model, but ultimately decided to do something new with the new Fathom moniker. While the word Fathom is commonly used in measuring the depth of certain bodies of water, it’s clear Ford wanted buyers to think about fathom being used “to understand a complex problem or person after much thought.” This latter term more than easily applies to some of the complex decisions Ford had to make behind the scenes when it began development of the Fathom.

The Fathom will be the first model built on Ford’s new Universal EV platform, which was designed to eventually support a diverse family of affordable software-defined vehicles. The brief teaser the company released on YouTube didn’t reveal much about the truck itself, but glimpses of the rear bed that pop up in the heavily stylized teaser suggest the design back there will be simple and straight to the point.

Everyone can fathom the price

In addition to launching its video teaser campaign, Ford also revealed the price for the Fathom, with the base model starting at $39,945 when the $1,595 destination fee is included. This new pricing makes the Fathom one of the least expensive EV pickups in the U.S. and also puts it head-to-head against rivals from Slate and Telos.

Technology will be a core pillar for the Fathom, and Ford promises the truck will have a healthy amount of standard equipment including BlueCruise hands-free driving, Over-the-Air Updates, and Apple Maps Integration. This high level of standard equipment is more than what you get in the decidedly more analog Slate Truck, which doubles down on customization and gives buyers only the bare essentials standard (including crank windows).

A key caveat here is that Ford didn’t reveal the full trim ladder for the truck, but here’s hoping Ford resists the urge to overstuff it with trims and keeps the model ladder here simple and approachable for low-budget buyers.

When can I buy one?

With the truck so early in development, it’s no surprise to see Ford didn’t reveal a launch window for the truck. However, the Fathom is expected to be built at Ford’s Louisville Plant in Kentucky, with production tentatively slated to begin in 2027.

The Fathom will debut a simplified manufacturing process, which will see the front, center, and rear assemblies being assembled separately before they are joined together. Ford has said in the past that this process will help keep build costs down, but it will be interesting to see how quickly production workers catch on to it to ensure it operates smoothly.