Ford just announced its new universal EV platform that is expected to rein in costs for the company’s money losing EV business. Chief among those cost savings will be a much, much smaller battery.
Ford said the new battery will be 15 percent smaller than that of a BYD Atto electric crossover. BYD uses the same lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry that Ford says it will use in its future EVs, starting with a four-door midsized pickup in 2027.
The BYD Atto 3 offers two battery options: a 49.92 kWh pack and a 60.48 kWh pack. That could mean Ford is looking at a battery with 51 kWh capacity, smaller than first-gen the Chevy Bolt’s 57 kWh pack. That’s tiny, especially by today’s standards of EVs with 300-miles-plus of range.
Ford acknowledges that the smaller battery will result in less range than typically available. Alan Clarke, the company’s head of advanced EV development, said if you dropped this new powertain into a conventional ICE truck, you would get 50 miles less range.
Clarke said the company is hoping to boost the range through improved aerodynamics.
