Ford claims its new midsize EV pickup will have a lower cost of ownership than a Tesla Model Y and more space than a Toyota RAV4. Starting at $30,000, it will also cost about the same as the RAV4. Here’s how the new Ford EV Universal Platform will make it happen.

Ford reveals new affordable Universal EV platform

Ford’s big bet is about to pay off. The company is preparing to launch a family of affordable electric vehicles based on the new Ford Universal EV Platform.

The first vehicle based on the platform will be the promised midsize four-door electric pickup. Ford’s new EV pickup will start at around $30,000 and will be assembled at its Louisville Assembly Plant.

Based on the new Ford Universal EV Platform, it will also have more passenger space than the latest Toyota RAV4.

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“We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable electric vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters – design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership,” Ford’s CEO Jim Farley said during the event in Kentucky.

According to Farley, Ford is done with the “good college tries” from other Detroit automakers to make affordable EVs, promising the company’s new platform will change the game by lowering costs and optimizing efficiency.

Ford is the first automaker to build prismatic LFP batteries in the US, which will not only cut costs but also free up interior space.

Farley explained that the new platform reduces parts by 20% compared to the average vehicle. It also has 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer worstations dock-to-dock in the plant, and 15% faster assembly time.

Perhaps, most importantly, Ford’s leader explained that it will help reduce costs for owners. Farley claimed that the new Ford Universal EV platform will enable “lower cost of ownership over five years than a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y.”

How so? For one, it’s significantly more efficient than the first-gen Ford EVs. The wiring harness alone in the new midsize truck will be 4,000 feet shorter and 10 kg lighter.

The LFP batteries lie flat under the floor, which improves handling, creates a quiet ride, and “provides a surprising amount of interior space,” Ford said. In fact, it will have more passenger room than the latest Toyota RAV4. And that’s not even including the added Frunk and truck bed.

Doug Field, Ford’s Chief EV, digital, and design officer, said the company took inspiration from the Model T to make it more than just a utility vehicle.

Ford promises that the new electric pickup will also be fun to drive, with a targeted 0 to 60 mph time as fast as the Mustang EcoBoost, and even more downforce.

The company will release additional information for the midsize electric pickup soon, including a reveal date, final prices, range, battery sizes, and charge times.

Ford said it’s aiming for a starting price of around $30,000, with customer deliveries set to begin in 2027. The company invested around $5 billion into its Louisville Assembly Complex, creating nearly 4,000 jobs to deliver its new EV pickup and LFP batteries.

Tesla is slowly starting to advertise, and it has now done a rare ad on a billboard in Los Angeles. It’s pathetically misleading about its “self-driving” capabilities.

Just last month, Tesla was in court in California being sued by the DMV over its alleged misleading communications around its ‘Autopilot’ and ‘Full Self-Driving’ advanced driver assist (ADAS) systems.

The judge hasn’t released their verdict on this case yet, but Tesla doesn’t seem deterred whatsoever.

At their North Hollywood location, Tesla put up a billboard advertising demo drives for its ‘Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised’ system:

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The billboard beautifully illustrates Tesla’s approach to its FSD system.

When it’s time to market and sell the system, Tesla emphasizes the “Full Self-Driving” part. Still, when it’s time to take responsability, like in a court room after a crash for example, then Tesla focuses on the “supervised” part and shout loud and clear that its “Full Self-Driving” system is not an autonomous driving system but a level 2 driver assistance system just like a cruise control and the driver is always responsible.

On the billboard, Tesla wrote the ‘supervised’ part more than twice as small as the “Experience Full Self-Driving” part:

Interestingly, the ad appears to feature an old Model 3 interior, but the advertised feature is “Full Self-Driving” with demo drives, which aligns with Tesla’s strategy to promote its $8,000 Full Self-Driving package.

Despite its name, the system is not fully self-driving. It is considered a level 2 driver assistance system as the driver is always responsible for the vehicle, unlike level 3-5 autonomous systems.

Tesla has been promising that it will become “unsupervised” in the future through new software update, but CEO Elon Musk said it would happen by the end of every year for the last 6 years and it never happened.

The current best data available, since Tesla doesn’t release any, indicates that Tesla’s most advanced publicly available Full Self-Driving Supervised update, FSD 13.9, achieves approximately 340 miles between critical disengagements.

According to NHTSA, humans drive about 700,000 miles between crashes.

Electrek’s Take

One of the main criticisms of Tesla in its self-driving approach has always been: is it doing enough to prevent people from becoming overconfident and abusing its ADAS systems?

I think the answer to that question is a clear no, and this billboard is a beautiful illustration of that.

Whenever it’s time to market the feature, it’s always about the promise of full self-driving, and whenever it’s time to take responsibilities, FSD is just a poor little level 2 ADAS system.

It’s becoming old.

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Portable power stations long ago became one of those “why didn’t I get one sooner?” products for me. Whether it’s keeping a fridge running during a power outage, charging cameras in the field, or juicing up my growing fleet of electric bikes, a good battery box is worth its weight in gold. Sometimes I use them simply when I’m too lazy to go find an extension cord! I recently got my hands on the new Dabbsson 2000L power station, and after putting it through its paces, I think this one’s going to earn a permanent spot in my gear lineup – and yes, probably a spot in my e-bike charging garage!

For starters, it’s relatively compact for its 2,048Wh capacity. Measuring roughly the size of a small cooler (11” × 18” × 9” or 28 x 46 x 23 cm) and weighing 41 lbs (18.6 kg), it’s not exactly a lunchbox, but it’s light enough for one person to carry and small enough to stash in a car trunk or camper van shelf without rearranging your life.

One of the first things I tested was the fast-charging claim, and I can say that it’s the real deal. Using Dabbsson’s “P-Boost” mode, I was able to charge the battery from empty to 80% in under an hour from a standard wall outlet. That’s faster than most high-capacity big-name brands, and it’s a huge benefit if you only have a short window to top it up before hitting the road or before the power comes back on after an outage. The 2000L can even handle short bursts of up to 3,300W output, which is overkill for most small electronics but perfect for starting up tools or appliances with a big surge current. I recently got in some electric jet boats, and they have weirdly high power chargers at 2,400W, so this would be for quick field top-ups down by the lake!

There are six 2200W AC outlets, two USB-A ports, a 100W USB-C as well as a 30W USB-C, a 126W car port, and a surprisingly rare 50W DC5521 round port.

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That last one might sound niche, but it’s perfect for powering certain fridges, monitors, or field communications gear without wasting energy by going through the inverter. If you’ve ever run a 12V fridge on a power station that only has AC, you know how much extra juice gets lost in conversion – so having a native DC port is a nice touch.

But back to the big test: charging my Velotric Triker. This is a three-wheeled electric cargo trike that can haul kids, groceries, or a whole lot of camera gear for filming days. Its battery isn’t small, but the Dabbsson 2000L can fill it up multiple times without itself needing to be recharged. I plugged the trike into one of the AC outlets, and while the onboard charger isn’t drawing anywhere near the 2000L’s full output rate, it was nice knowing I could recharge multiple e-bike batteries in a day and still have power left over for lights, a laptop, and even running a small fan during breaks.

For anyone using e-bikes off-grid, whether that’s camping, filming, or just riding far from civilization, this power station could keep you rolling for days.

I also tried it in a few other scenarios. In the garage, it ran my shop vac without breaking a sweat. Out in the yard, I plugged in a power saw for a cordless cutting session. The 15ms EPS (Emergency Power Supply) switchover time means that if I use it as an electrical outage solution and the power ever cuts out, like is common in a big storm, the fridge or other major devices I could plug into it would barely blink.

Dabbsson also put some serious thought into off-grid use. The 2000L can take up to 800W of solar input, which means you can recharge it from the sun in around 3.5 hours under ideal conditions, if you have enough solar panels. I had a single panel, which will still let you charge up with a trickle!

Better yet, you can charge from solar and AC at the same time, with solar prioritized. That’s handy for vanlifers who want to grab some extra juice at a campground while still getting the most out of their rooftop panels.

And if you’re worried about battery life, the LiFePO₄ chemistry here is rated for an impressive 4,000 cycles to 80% capacity. That’s years longer than the standard lithium-ion cells found in many cheaper power stations. LiFePO₄ also tends to be more thermally stable, and Dabbsson doubled down on safety with some extreme testing, claiming to pass the nail penetration test (meaning the cells didn’t catch fire when pierced) and withstanding surface temps up to 500°C. I didn’t do a nail penetration test myself, so we’re going to have to decide whether or not to take their word on that one.

They also claim 56 separate extreme-weather tests, so whether it’s sitting in a hot car trunk in summer or running in a chilly campsite, it seems built to handle it.

Noise-wise, it’s impressively quiet. In “silent charging” mode, it stays under 25 dB, which is around the level of a whisper, so you can charge it overnight in a bedroom or use it in a tent without feeling like you’re sleeping next to a server farm.

If I had to nitpick, 41 lbs is quite heavy for longer carries. It’s manageable for short carries, but you’re not throwing it in a backpack and hiking into the woods. And while the compact size is nice, the handle design could be a little more ergonomic for long hauls. But these are small trade-offs for the amount of capacity and features packed into this form factor.

At its current sale price of $649, the Dabbsson 2000L undercuts most of the big-name competition while matching or beating them in fast charging, solar input, and safety features. For e-bike riders, vanlifers, campers, or just anyone who wants a reliable backup power source at home, it’s an easy recommendation. After charging my electric trike, running my chest freezer, and powering tools around the yard, I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what it can do.

And honestly, that’s the best kind of problem to have with a portable power station, knowing you’ve got way more capability than you’re likely to ever need. It may be heavy, but that weight is all the extra capacity that is there if you ever need it.