Ford is betting that the next EV price war will not be won by the cheapest truck, but by the one that makes buyers feel they gave up nothing. Its new Fathom is aimed squarely at Slate’s stripped-down pickup—and at Ford’s own troubled recent electric past.

For nearly a year, Ford has teased a lower-cost, next-generation EV program as a possible “Model T moment.” The first product is now named: the midsize Fathom, priced from $28,350. Production is planned for Ford’s revamped Louisville Assembly Plant next year, with pre-orders opening early next year and customer deliveries expected before the end of 2027.¹

That puts Ford in a direct, if delayed, contest with Slate. Slate’s $24,950 truck is expected on the road later this year, giving the startup roughly a year’s head start. Its proposition is radical austerity: the base version has no paint, power windows, touchscreen or stereo, and seats two unless buyers pay $5,000 for an SUV conversion kit.¹

Ford’s counterargument is that an affordable EV does not need to feel unfinished. The Fathom is set to include a large touchscreen with Apple Maps, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, plus an open bed, frunk and interior space Ford says will exceed that of a Toyota RAV4. It will also carry the hardware for BlueCruise hands-free driving, though activating the service is likely to cost extra.¹

The company says streamlined engineering and a new assembly process—building the front, middle and rear sections in parallel before joining them—will make the price work at volume. The strategic logic is clear: at only $3,400 more than Slate, Ford hopes features will trump minimalism.

Yet the harder question is demand. Ford’s earlier EV ambitions were slowed not by factory capacity but by weak buyer and dealer interest, contributing to billions in losses and the cancellation of the F-150 Lightning. The Fathom starts at roughly half the Lightning’s price, but it will still have to prove that cheaper electric trucks can bring consumers back rather than merely start a race to the bottom.¹