Ford Motor has discontinued development of a key next-generation electrical architecture project, once seen as critical to competing with electric vehicle leaders like Tesla, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The program, internally called FNV4 (Fully Networked Vehicle), was designed to streamline and unify vehicle software across Ford’s electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) models. The company aimed to reduce costs, improve quality, and enable new software-driven features. However, the effort was abandoned due to mounting costs and repeated delays, the sources said.
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A Ford spokesperson confirmed the company had ended the program but said lessons from FNV4 would be integrated into ongoing software initiatives. “We are committed to delivering fully connected vehicle experiences across our entire lineup, regardless of powertrain, while many others in the industry are bringing the most advanced tech only to electric vehicles,” the spokesperson said.
Ford began notifying select employees of the decision last week via a company video, according to two sources. A third person said executives had already made the decision weeks earlier. The automaker will continue to pursue advanced software development through its “skunkworks” team based in California, which is focused on creating cost-effective EVs and future software platforms.
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Chief Executive Jim Farley had appointed Doug Field, a former Apple and Tesla executive, to lead the FNV4 program. Field, who earned $15.5 million in 2023, played a key role in the now-canceled initiative. Speaking in a podcast last year, Farley highlighted the challenges of legacy vehicle software systems, noting the complexity caused by the multitude of suppliers writing isolated code for different modules. “We have about 150 of these modules with semiconductors all through the car,” Farley said. “The problem is the software is all written by 150 different companies, and they don’t talk to each other.”
FNV4 was intended to solve this problem through a “zonal” architecture, where smaller localized systems communicate with a central brain. The design would reduce wiring complexity and allow faster over-the-air updates, while also opening the door to subscription-based features such as assisted driving.
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Industry experts say control over in-vehicle software is becoming a critical differentiator among automakers. “The only strategic advantage any company can have is speed,” said Terry Woychowski, president of engineering firm Caresoft Global.
Despite halting FNV4, Ford maintains it is still committed to developing software-enabled vehicles. The company reported $4.7 billion in EV and software-related losses in 2023 and expects an additional $5 billion loss in 2024.
Update: Ford Responds
After the Reuters report was published, Ford contacted us to clarify that the project was not “killed” but instead merged—an important distinction noted in both Reuters’ coverage and our own. The company also reiterated that its zonal architecture remains an active and ongoing part of its development plans.
“We simply made a decision to merge two of our electrical architectures into a common electrical architecture for use across many more vehicles, across all powertrain types, to have the connected digital experiences that have been so well received in products like the F-150, Mustang Mach-E and Lincoln Nautilus and Navigator, while many others in the industry are bringing the most advanced tech only to EVs. Now, future EVs AND vehicles like Bronco, Mustang, Super Duty, Ranger and Transit will have those capabilities too.” a Ford spokesperson told us.
“This is very much still the intention. We are migrating the most important parts of FNV4 (module software and controlling it from central locations where we have control) and the work done on, for example, OTA, to a common architecture. We are gaining the ability to deploy advanced software features like our new in-vehicle infotainment and advanced BlueCruise across not only all new electric vehicles but also our high-volume gas and hybrid vehicles like Bronco, Mustang, Super Duty, Ranger and Transit. “
“In parallel, our next generation advanced electric vehicle platform (known as Skunkworks project) has given us the freedom to reinvent from the ground up and create a next-gen zonal architecture, with massive hardware simplification and a nimble, in-house software platform suited for our future affordable electric vehicles. “