GoKawiilis transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
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Ford said today that its next-generation electric vehicle — recently dubbed Fathom — will go into production at the automaker’s recently overhauled Louisville Assembly Plant in the first quarter of 2027.
The first Fathoms will be prototypes, with Ford’s team in Louisville already in the production-level pre-tooling phase at the recently converted facility. Factory workers are working alongside team’s at Ford’s New Model Product Development Center in Dearborn, Michigan, hand-building the Fathom prototypes — and the same operators who helped design the high-stakes EV will also be involved in its production.
The factory is over 70 years old, so Ford had a lot of equipment to get rid of before it could begin the process of converting into an EV plant. Over several weeks, crews physically unbolted and hauled out heavy machinery, dragging thousands of tons of steel out the door. By February, only an empty shell remained.
The Fathom, a $28,000 electric pickup truck, will be the first vehicle on Ford’s new Universal Electric Vehicle Platform, an innovative new system designed to maximize aerodynamic range while also reducing production costs so Ford can make a profitable vehicle. For over a year, the company has been hyping it as its “Model T moment” that will revolutionize nearly everything at the 123-year-old company.
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