Ford has redrawn its electric vehicle roadmap, announcing that it will pull back from large EVs as the US carmaker transitions towards hybrids, petrol-powered trucks and a new battery storage venture. The auto giant also predicted profits to take a hit of almost $19.5 billion in the next few years.The US automaker, on Monday, said that several large electric models will be dropped, including the F-150 Lightning, as demand has failed to meet expectations amid rising costs and changes in regulation. The decision marks a clear departure from Ford’s earlier EV-heavy ambitions, at a time when the industry is reassessing the pace of the electric transition.“This is a customer-driven shift to create a stronger, more resilient and more profitable Ford,” chief executive Jim Farley said, adding that “the operating reality has changed, and we are redeploying capital into higher-return growth opportunities.”The announcement follows a move by US President Donald Trump to roll back stricter fuel economy rules introduced under former president Joe Biden, which had encouraged US carmakers to accelerate investments in electric vehicles. Farley welcomed the rollback, saying Trump was “aligning fuel economy standards with market realities” and calling it “a win for customers and common sense.” Trump has frequently criticised what he called an EV “mandate”, while Republican lawmakers have also scrapped clean-energy tax credits that had supported EV sales.Going forward, Ford said its electric vehicle development will be limited to smaller, lower-priced models. Production of the current F-150 Lightning has already been stopped, the company said. Its successor will be launched as a hybrid model, pairing an electric battery with a petrol engine and offering a driving range of more than 700 miles.Plans to introduce new electric commercial vans in Europe and North America have also been abandoned. Instead, Ford will produce petrol and hybrid vans at its Ohio assembly plant from 2029. In Tennessee, the company will retool its EV-focused factory, now to be renamed the Tennessee Truck Plant, to build affordable petrol-powered trucks from the same year.As part of its broader reset, Ford is also entering the battery energy storage market. A plant in Kentucky will be converted to manufacture storage systems for data centres and power utilities. The company expects to invest around $2 billion over two years in the project and aims to reach an annual capacity of 20 gigawatt-hours by late 2027, positioning itself as a significant player in the fast-growing sector.
