Ford Motor Co. has announced a pivot in its future electric vehicle strategy, a move that will cost it $19.5 billion to restructure its business plan, but the automaker will keep the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup in production.
Ford said the pickup will transition into a new model that will use Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) technology, meaning it has a generator on it to recharge it, giving it an estimated range of more than 700 miles and added charging capacity.
Ford made the announcement on Monday, Dec. 15, along with several other announcements including that it will offer a range of hybrid and gasoline powertrains on its vehicles to complement its upcoming new Universal EV Platform, which Ford unveiled in August. By 2030, the company said, it expects that half of all vehicles Ford sells globally will be hybrids, extended-range EVs and electric vehicles compared with 17% today.
The Dearborn automaker also said it will hire “thousands of new employees” in the United States over the next few years as it shifts production in various plants and starts a new business building battery energy storage systems at its facilities in Kentucky and Marshall, Michigan.
These moves are part of Ford’s plan to launch five new affordable vehicles by the end of the decade, four of which will be assembled in the United States. Ford said it also plans to expand gasoline, hybrid and extended-range electric options across its portfolio with nearly every vehicle offering a powertrain choice by the end of the decade.
The automaker also said it plans on assembling all-new pickups at BlueOval City in Tennessee and a new gasoline powered and hybrid van will be produced at its Ohio Assembly Plant in Sheffield, Ohio.
Ford said all these actions will help its profit margins, and at its Model e division, which is Ford’s electric vehicle unit, it expects it will start seeing improvements to revenue next year and reach profitability in 2029. In the last few years, Ford has bled billions from its Model e division; last year alone Ford lost $5 billion on EVs.
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As a result of all these changes, the company said it will record $19.5 billion in charges, with most of it taken in the fourth quarter. Of that $19.5 billion, about $5.5 billion are cash charges with the majority of that being paid in 2026 and the remainder in 2027.
But Ford said due to continued underlying business strength and cost improvements, it is increasing its projected adjusted earnings before interest and taxes for 2025 to $7 billion, up from the previous estimate of $6 billion to $6.5 billion.
“This is a customer-driven shift to create a stronger, more resilient and more profitable Ford,” Jim Farley, Ford CEO, said in a statement. “The operating reality has changed, and we are redeploying capital into higher-return growth opportunities: Ford Pro, our market-leading trucks and vans, hybrids and high-margin opportunities like our new battery energy storage business.”
These changes are Farley’s latest tweak to his “Ford+” restructuring plan, which has been changed a few times since he initially outlined it in 2021 as a plan to grow EV sales.
But U.S. sales of EVs have slumped after President Donald Trump’s administration ended the $7,500 federal tax credit available to EV buyers, at the end of September. On CNBC on Dec. 15 Farley said that policy change “wasn’t the only reason” Ford was making these moves, but he acknowledged it was a factor.
“We evaluated the market, and we made the call,” Farley said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime” on Dec. 15. “We’re following customers to where the market is, not where people thought it was going to be, but where it is today.”
Ford now plans to hire across its factories in Michigan, Tennessee and Ohio as it expands its truck and van lineup, Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue and Ford Model e strategy, told reporters.
At Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, Ford will update the media on how many new jobs will go there after it restarts production on the new version of the Lightning, Frick said. Ford will share more details about the vehicle and its production and launch timing at a later date.
In October, Ford transferred about 500 employees from its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center to its Dearborn Truck plant to help with increased production of the F-150 pickup. Ford makes its gasoline- and hybrid-powered F-150 at Dearborn Truck Plant and said it will add an extra 45,000 units next year, “enabled by a new third crew of 1,200 employees.”
Ford officially ended production this year of the 2025 F-150 Lightning, built at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, after two fires earlier this fall destroyed part of the Novelis aluminum plant in New York. Novelis supplies Ford with much of the aluminum used in the bodies of its pickups and SUVs. The fire created a shortage of aluminum and caused some production disruptions to the Lightning and Ford SUVs.
On Dec. 15, Ford said the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center on its BlueOval campus in Stanton, Tennessee, near Memphis, is now renamed Tennessee Truck Plant. The facility will produce “all-new Built Ford Tough truck models” starting in 2029.
Frick declined to provide any details as to what kinds of new pickups these will be, other than to say they are new affordable gas-powered trucks that will broaden Ford’s lineup and extend its market leadership, replacing the previously planned next-generation electric truck.
Ford plans to hire at least 2,300 people in Tennessee to start, he said.
Ford will make Ohio Assembly Plant a central hub for Ford Pro, its commercial vehicle unit. There, Ford will be assembling the new gasoline- and hybrid-powered commercial van starting in 2029, alongside Super Duty chassis cabs. Frick said Ford employs 1,700 people in Ohio and he had no update on how many new people Ford plans to hire there.
Ford said it will convert its BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, Kentucky, from a facility producing batteries for EVs to one that makes battery energy storage systems, effectively launching a new business segment for Ford. These systems are an energy storage solution for such customers as data centers, utilities and large-scale industrial and commercial businesses, Lisa Drake, Ford’s vice president of Technology Platform Programs and EV Systems, told the media on Dec. 15.
Drake said Ford studied the industry and can apply its manufacturing expertise and licensed advanced battery technology to start building the energy storage units within 18 months, positioning the company to capture a share of the growing U.S. battery energy storage systems market. Ford currently plans to deploy at least 20 GWh annually by late 2027.
Last week, Ford, SK On, SK Battery America and BlueOval SK entered into a joint venture disposition agreement where a Ford subsidiary will independently own and operate the Kentucky battery plants. SK On will fully own and operate the Tennessee battery plant.
That production change at SK Battery Park will mean some 1,600 employees there will be laid off, but then Ford will hire 2,100 new people and the former workers are welcome to apply for one of the new jobs.
The move will allow Ford to use excess EV battery capacity at the facility to create a new, diversified and profitable revenue stream. Ford plans to invest roughly $2 billion in the next two years to scale the business there.
In Michigan, Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan in Marshall will produce smaller Amp-hour cells for use in residential energy storage solutions. Ford said the facility remains on track to begin manufacturing LFP prismatic battery cells in 2026 to power Ford’s upcoming midsize electric truck, to be built at Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky in 2027 and to be the first model on the new Universal EV Platform. Ford has said that pickup will start at around $30,000, a steal in today’s world when the average new car costs nearly $50,000.
Frick said the automaker plans to expand its future hybrid powertrain offerings with a range of executions based on customer needs such as hybrids that deliver economy, performance and exportable power. The carmaker will also build larger trucks and SUVs to better align with customer demand for capability, towing and range.
That includes adding extended-range electric options to its lineup, one of which will be the previously mentioned next-generation F-150 Lightning. There had been reports last month that Ford leaders were considering killing the Lightning due to slowing EV sales in the United States.
In the third quarter, Ford reported it sold 10,005 Lightnings, a 39.7% gain from the year-ago period and a record for the company. The sales were largely aided by the fact that a $7,500 federal tax credit was due to expire at the end of September, so buyers rushed to take advantage of it while they could. Ford reported Lightning sales from January through the end of the quarter are 23,034 sold, a 1% year-over-year gain.
Ford will shift the Lightning to become an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV).
“The F-150 Lightning is a groundbreaking product that demonstrated an electric pickup can still be a great F-Series,” said Doug Field, Ford’s chief EV, digital and design officer, in a statement. “Our next-generation Lightning EREV is every bit as revolutionary. It keeps everything customers love — 100% electric power delivery, sub-5-second acceleration — and adds an estimated 700+ mile range and tows like a locomotive. It will be an incredibly versatile tool delivered in a capital-efficient way.””
Frick told reporters that, for the average customer, the next generation F-150 Lightning will go nine to 10 days on electricity alone. He said Ford took its time evaluating the market before making these decisions.
“These are big decisions that we believe will pay off for years to come for our customers, our employees, American jobs and manufacturing,” Frick told reporters. “Ford is following the customer. We are looking at the market as it is today, not just as everyone predicted it to be five years ago. Customers want the freedom to choose the powertrain that fits their lifestyle and work and that is affordable.”
Ford said it no longer intends to produce the previously planned new electric commercial van for Europe. It will maintain its full lineup of electrified vans for that market though. Ford recently announced some changes to its business in Europe, including new leadership and bringing a new generation of multi-energy vehicles to customers. Ford also announced a strategic partnership with Renault to collaborate in the development of commercial and passenger EVs.
In North America, Ford said it will replace a planned electric commercial van with “affordable” hybrid and gasoline models of a commercial van, to be assembled at Ford’s Ohio Assembly Plant.
(This story has been updated to include new information.)
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer for USA Today Co. who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

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