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By Eileen Falkenberg-Hull
Senior Editor, Autos, Travel and Lifestyle
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The new Ford Fathom midsize electric pickup truck is formulated for success, but will Americans want to buy it? That is the lingering question as Ford pours billions into Fathom development and production ahead of its 2027 on-sale date.
Its previous battery-electric pickup truck effort, the full-size F-150 Lightning, was met with great fanfare and enthusiasm when it debuted in 2021, but demand quickly subsided once it went on sale in 2022. Ford discontinued the model in December 2025.
For Fathom, Ford is taking a new approach, inspired by Chinese automaker production. Not only did the vehicle start from a clean sheet when it comes to design and engineering, the manufacturing process for producing a vehicle has been redesigned by the company and will be employed for the first time with the model.
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“Ford started this project after realizing their first approach to EV development resulted in vehicles too heavy, too compromised and too expensive to manufacture. The Fathom project started with the mission of rethinking how the company would approach EV development and manufacturing,” Stephanie Brinley, associate director of AutoIntelligence at Global Mobility, told Newsweek.
Over the last half-decade, the EV regulatory environment has shifted globally. Ford, like other automakers, has been cautiously adapting its lineup through partnerships and re-evaluating the product portfolio. It can take two to three years, or more for a company to change product to meet new goals due to long lead times for manufacturing and various certification processes.
“With government regulations pointing toward pushing faster adoption, and investors rewarding aggressive electric and autonomous vehicle-forward product plans and investments, there might have been a perfect storm for unearned optimism,” Brinley explained.
She continued: “The U.S. regulatory environment has eased up, which has opened the door for automakers to come to the U.S. market with EVs at a pace driven by consumer adoption and demand more than regulatory requirements.”
How Many People Want to Buy Electric Trucks?
If the market doesn’t want to purchase a product, no matter what the regulations are, then the product is dead in the water. Automakers have continually tried to gauge interest in vehicles beyond traditional research months and even years ahead of a model coming off the line by registering interested parties via a nominal deposit on a reservation. Once the reservation is activated, closer to a vehicle launch, interested parties can decide if they want to move forward with purchase.
“There was considerable overinflation of the pace of consumer adoption, in part driven by high numbers of consumer hand raisers who did not convert to purchases,” Brinley said.
Tesla famously touted well over 1 million reservations for its Cybertruck. To date, the company has sold around 70,000 models since it went on sale in 2023.
General Motors had a higher conversion rate with its GMC Hummer EV. Over 36,000 buyers have been converted to sales from 90,000 reservations.
“The reality is that the transition to increased EV sales, while on a longer-term upward trend, has seen fits and starts, struggles with pricing and government policy drivers more than consumer pull. Expectations for a smooth, steady transition were unrealistic,” Brinley said.
Ford is confident that it has developed a vehicle that customer want. "Fathom expands the Ford lineup with a new option for those who want value, useful space, and versatility – all in a package that is high tech and adaptable. We've created value for the customer by reducing cost in all the places customers don't care about so that we can put it in places that they do care about," Kay Hart, general manager of the Model e division of Ford Motor Company told Newsweek.
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She continued: "Fathom is projected to have more passenger volume than a Toyota RAV4, with a large, high-resolution touch screen, bidirectional power capability, digital key, as well as a frunk and bed for added cargo flexibility, with enough seating for five adults. Combined, this means that the midsize truck is just as comfortable on a workday commute as it is on a weekend adventure, delivering exceptional value for customers."
Fathom Faces Little Competition
For over 100 years, Ford has been a truck maker. For the last 49 years, the F-Series has been America’s best-selling truck. Though it will enter the market with a century of know-how under its belt, Ford will be one year behind Slate in putting an electric truck on sale.
“Fathom and Slate will be, for some time, the only EV non-full-size pickup trucks. Both still have the job of convincing internal combustion engined vehicle owners to make the switch to an EV truck. Convincing compact crossover/SUV buyers to both want to shift to a pickup and shift to an EV at the same time seems like a tall task. While we don’t have all the specifications yet, Ford has earned its truck credibility and I do expect that it will be a compelling equation,” Brinley explained.
What Does Ford Fathom Success Look Like?
Rather than gauge success by looking at hand raisers or reservations turned into sales for the first year, Brinley suggested another perspective saying, “Evaluating Fathom’s success will have to include patience and be viewed in a longer-term lens. It needs time for U.S. consumers still hesitant to make the switch to EV. Continued sales increases over time, generally contributing to growing EV demand, and being profitable are the metrics to watch for Fathom. Fathom is unlikely to outsell Maverick – though Fathom’s pricing looks set to be right on top of Maverick and takes away the price objection to an EV truck.”
Will Ford sell Fathom in Europe or China?
With EV adoption growth overseas outpacing U.S. buyer interest, an overseas market could be a fit for selling Fathom. The likeliness of that, however, is still to be determined.
“I don’t think Ford needs to be in a hurry to make Fathom available overseas. For Europe, they have other plans for EV model expansion in the next few years, and while China’s market is slowly warming to pickup trucks, that market isn’t a priority for Ford and pickups aren’t a priority for those buyers,” Brinley said.
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