Ford's Three-Row Electric SUV Is Dead

The hybrid propulsion storm is making Ford rethink its all-electric portfolio.

Photo by: InsideEVs

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Aug 21, 2024 at 8:17am ET

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The American automaker initially planned on launching a pure electric three-row SUV in 2025.
Ford will focus on hybrid propulsion for its upcoming family haulers while remaining committed to next-gen electric pickups.

Ford has canceled its upcoming three-row all-electric SUV, the company said during a media briefing which InsideEVs attended. The American automaker previously announced that it would delay the 350-mile battery-powered family hauler from 2025 to 2027, but it has now decided to end production plans altogether.

Instead of going down the pure electric route for its upcoming three-row SUV, Ford will turn to a hybrid system as the powertrain of choice. The company didn’t say when the next hybrid family SUV would debut.

The reason for this change of heart is primarily due to battery material sourcing costs and the pressure to sell lower-priced models. “Today’s electric vehicle consumers are more cost-conscious than early adopters, looking to electric vehicles as a practical way to save money on fuel and maintenance, as well as time by charging at home,” the company said in a news release. “This, coupled with scores of new electric vehicle choices hitting the market over the next 12 months and rising compliance requirements, has amplified pricing pressures.”

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John Lawler, Ford's Chief Financial Officer, added that customers now want more electrification choices to better meet their needs and that the hybrid model is the best solution. “We looked where the segment was involving the amount of competition the customer needs, and then the size of the battery that needs to go in a pure EV vehicle, the cost structure, the pricing, we could not put together a vehicle that met our requirement being profitable in the first 12 months of launch, and we're sticking to that,” Lawler said.

Ford isn’t giving up on future all-electric vehicles, but it is cutting back capital spending on EVs by 10%. The first next-gen battery-powered model will be a commercial van set to go into production in Ohio in 2026, followed by two new pickup trucks in 2027.

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