Ford Motor has unveiled its new EV Design Center in Long Beach, California, transforming a once-secretive “skunkworks” team into a full-fledged innovation hub focused on building the automaker’s next generation of electric vehicles. The 250,000-square-foot site officially opened on Tuesday and will serve as the company’s main base for EV design and development in Southern California.
Originally constructed 95 years ago for production of the Ford Model A and later repurposed for military use during World War II, the facility now anchors Ford’s vision for a more competitive and cost-effective electric lineup. The expanded EV team, which includes engineers and designers previously at Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, and Apple, is working under the leadership of Alan Clarke, a former Tesla executive with over a decade of experience in electric vehicle development.
The group is tasked with designing an all-new EV platform that will serve a range of lower-cost, midsize vehicles, including pickups, crossovers, SUVs, and potentially sedans. According to Ford, the platform will support up to eight different body styles. The first model from the project — a midsize electric pickup — is scheduled for launch in 2027 and is expected to target cost parity with Chinese automakers producing vehicles in Mexico. To meet this goal, the EVs will use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries produced at Ford’s new plant in Michigan under a licensing agreement with China’s CATL.
In June, during a discussion with industry analysts, Lisa Drake, Ford’s vice president of EV systems and tech platform programs, shared that the company will reveal more about the upcoming vehicle and platform on August 11. Ford CEO Jim Farley previously called the project a potential “Model T moment,” signaling the company’s aim to usher in a new era of affordable electric transportation for global markets.