Ford is delaying its next-gen electric three-row SUV and truck

Ford is delaying the release of its electric three-row SUV until 2027, the company announced in an update. It will also begin work on its next electric truck in 2026 and will offer hybrid options for every model it has in production.

The unnamed SUV was supposed to go into production starting in 2025 at Ford’s plant in Oakville, Ontario, which is currently in the midst of pivoting from gas-car production to EVs. Ford gave several reasons for the delay, including a desire to wait until the three-row SUV market matures before introducing its own entrant.

“The additional time will allow for the consumer market for three-row EVs to further develop and enable Ford to take advantage of emerging battery technology, with the goal to provide customers increased durability and better value,” the company said.  

While there are over 100 electric models available for sale in the US, very few of them are three-row SUVs, despite their popularity with families. The Tesla Model X, Rivian R1S, and Kia EV9, as well as some models of the Tesla Model Y, are some of the few available to customers in need of an extra row.

Ford also said it would delay work on its next-generation electric truck until 2026 at the still-under-construction BlueOval City Campus in Tennessee. The truck was originally supposed to go into production starting in 2025.

The BlueOval City Campus is coming into focus, including the installation of a paint shop and “nearly 4,000 tons of stamping equipment that will produce the sheet metal stampings for Ford’s next all-new electric truck.” Ford is also working on expanding its assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, where it will produce a next-generation electric commercial vehicle by mid-decade.

The electric truck and SUV were intended to represent Ford’s second-generation EVs, following its first-gen Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, and E-Transit van. Ford CEO Jim Farley has said the second-gen EVs would be profitable within the first 12 months.

But while its next-gen vehicles are delayed, its next-next-generation EVs are still underway. Ford said design work on its new lineup of affordable EVs “continues” at the company’s skunkworks lab under the supervision of ex-Tesla designer Alan Clarke. The California-based team is “developing a smaller, low-cost, profitable, flexible EV platform capable of underpinning multiple vehicles at high volumes,” Ford said.

Ford, like other global automakers, is scrambling to perfect the formula for profitable electric vehicles. The company’s Model e unit, which oversees EVs and software products, reported a loss of $1.6 billion in the last quarter of 2023. Ford said it would slow the pace of money it was spending on EVs in order to better match customer demand.

Ford reported its first quarter sales figures yesterday, in which hybrids, in particular, played a major role. The automaker sold 38,421 hybrid vehicles in the first three months of 2024, representing an increase of 42 percent compared to Q1 in 2023. Its gas-guzzling SUVs (Escape, Explorer, Expedition, and Bronco) also had a historic quarter, which the company is calling its “all-time best” ever. And EV sales were up 86 percent year over year.