Farley’s Model T Moment: Bold EV Strategy In A Risky Policy Era - CleanTechnica

In August 2025, Ford unveiled its Universal EV Platform, a bold strategic initiative described by CEO Jim Farley as the company’s “Model T moment.” The platform aims to deliver affordable electric vehicles (EVs) at scale through radically simplified manufacturing processes and domestically produced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Ford has committed $5 billion to this effort, acknowledging the significant risks involved amid a shifting and increasingly hostile U.S. policy environment. Farley emphasized that while the plan is uncertain, it is a necessary gamble to maintain Ford’s competitiveness in the evolving automotive market. The strategy was initially grounded in a favorable policy context shaped by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which provided substantial consumer credits, manufacturing incentives, and infrastructure funding to support EV adoption. Ford’s diagnosis identified cost as the primary barrier to mainstream EV acceptance, leading to a guiding policy focused on advanced design and manufacturing innovations to reduce costs and localize critical supply chains. The Universal EV Platform embodies this policy through measures such