Ford’s Skunkworks EV Platform Could Spawn Next-Gen Fiesta, Puma: Report

Ford’s electric vehicle sales are soaring in the U.S., driven by jaw-dropping lease deals and finance offers. However, the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning alone can't take Ford far enough in the EV race. For that, the Dearborn automaker needs its upcoming “skunkworks” project to succeed. Part of making the strategy work could involve launching spiritual successors to the Fiesta, Focus or European-market Puma small crossover.

This kicks off the mid-week edition of Critical Materials, your daily coverage of news shaping up the world of electric cars, software-defined vehicles and self-driving tech. The other big news today is BYD and Uber teaming up to deploy electric taxis across the world. And lastly, we also discuss Japanese truck maker Isuzu’s plans to enter the U.S. with compact electric trucks in 2026.

30%: Ford's Small EVs May Be Successors To Fiesta And Puma

2026 could be a defining year for EVs. It's when several exciting models would be on the market, including the Rivian R2, Kia EV3 and the next-generation Chevy Bolt EV, among others. Also in the works for 2026 are Ford’s affordable EVs.

Farley said during the second quarter earnings call that the team is no longer “skunkworks.” “Our team, the skunkworks team, we might as well call it a big team now because it's no longer skunkworks,” he said.

That makes sense because the team comprises at least 300 members, including former Tesla, Rivian and Apple engineers and even Formula 1 aerodynamicists. “They really have breakthrough EV components with our own design that we think are better and cheaper,” Farley said.

Now Autocar reports that Ford might launch several models positioned under the Explorer EV, sold in Europe, based on the new platform. Here’s an excerpt from that story:

This new platform, the development of which is being led by a former Tesla engineer, could underpin spiritual successors to the Fiesta and Focus and a replacement for the Puma, as well as opening up the potential for other small cars from Ford.

“We are spending a decent amount of time at the corporate level talking about affordability,” Marin Gjaja, chief operating officer of Ford’s Model E division, told Autocar recently.

The architecture would be used for an obvious replacement for the next Puma. That would inevitably be an electric model and serve as a replacement for the current Puma’s electric variant, which will join the range later this year.

Like all new Fords of the future, whatever models come from the new architecture will not be conventionally shaped and sized and will be “differentiated” in their segments, according to Gjaja.
The Puma is essentially a slightly taller and longer Fiesta. It was the best-selling car in the U.K. in 2023.

As evidenced by the success of Chinese automakers and Tesla, large SUVs and giant trucks won’t be central to democratizing EVs. Instead, crossovers and hatchbacks seem poised to drive mass adoption. Electric successors to the Fiesta, Puma or Focus could play a pivotal role in achieving this.

That would be sea change for Ford’s current U.S. customers, accustomed to fat SUVs and trucks. However, EV buyers stateside have embraced models like the Bolt EV, Tesla Model 3, and Model Y and even Ford’s own Mustang Mach-E, none of which are large and intimidating.  It remains to be seen if buyers will also embrace Ford’s cheap EVs.

60%: Uber And BYD Team Up For Electric Taxis

Except for the U.S., Chinese EV makers are everywhere right now, expanding fiercely and unapologetically.

Call it a “market distortion policy” like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently did, a solution to the suspected overcapacity in the Chinese EV market, or simply the desire to electrify as many countries as possible, as quickly as possible.

China’s largest EV maker BYD is hitting back-to-back home runs this week. Yesterday, Automotive News revealed BYD's plans to enter Canada. Today BYD announced a partnership with Uber to deploy 100,000 electric taxis worldwide.

“By working together, the companies aim to bring down the total cost of EV ownership for Uber drivers, accelerating the uptake of EVs on the Uber platform globally, and introducing millions of riders to greener rides,” the two companies said in a joint statement.

Without specifying a launch timeline, Uber and BYD said that the electric ride-hailing services would be first deployed in Europe and Latin America with plans to expand in the Middle-East, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The U.S. was not mentioned due to stringent import restrictions on Chinese-made cars, including a 100% tariff.

Uber drivers are adopting electric cars five times faster than private buyers, but high costs remain a barrier. BYD’s low-cost EVs could help address this problem, the two companies said.

The partnership also includes future BYD self-driving cars. “As the largest on-demand mobility and delivery platform in the world, Uber is well-positioned to bring autonomous vehicle technology to a global audience at scale,” the company said.

This is part of an industry-wide effort to demote human drivers to mere passengers, as several major automakers invest in cars with eyes and ears that can apparently drive safer than humans. Like it or not, the future is not just electric, but also increasingly autonomous.

90%: Isuzu To Launch Electric Trucks In The U.S.

Japan’s Isuzu Motors plans to sell compact electric trucks in North America starting in 2026.

Isuzu already sells commercial trucks and haulers in the U.S. To make the compact models economically viable, it will import components from Japan and assemble them in North America. That will help them avoid the 25% "Chicken Tax" that applies to imported pickup trucks (Mexico and Canada are excluded due to the USMCA). 

According to Nikkei, Isuzu’s compact electric trucks will have a range of 68 to 130 miles and will primarily be available for lease. Slightly larger mid-sized trucks are also planned for later release.

Clearly, range doesn’t seem to be the primary focus for Isuzu. However, this depends on the use-case. For fleet operators or logistics companies with limited, pre-calculated daily mileage, such low-range trucks might make sense.

Nonetheless, the limited range could be a drawback. U.S. buyers have made it loud and clear that cost, range anxiety and charging are the primary hurdles to broader adoption of EVs.

It could be more of a drawback considering that electric trucks currently on the U.S. market, like the Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning, offer a driving range of well above 300 miles on certain trims.

100%: Will Autonomous Taxis Take Off?

Automakers and ride-hailing services are hell bent on making robotaxis work. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, already operates its Waymo driverless taxis in San Francisco and Phoenix, with plans to expand to Austin. GM’s Cruise has resumed testing after a brief hiatus following a dangerous accident where it dragged a pedestrian. Tesla’s robotaxi reveal is slated for October 10.