Ford Motor Company is redefining electric vehicle engineering with its new Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform, focusing on maximizing efficiency and reducing battery size to make EVs more affordable and competitive with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.
In a blog post authored by Alan Clarke, Executive Director of Advanced EV Development at Ford, the company outlined its engineering philosophy, drawing parallels with the turbocharging revolution that reshaped the automotive industry in the 1970s and Ford’s EcoBoost strategy in 2011. Ford believes that, instead of increasing battery size to improve range, optimizing vehicle systems can deliver greater efficiency at lower cost.
Batteries account for nearly 40% of an EV’s total cost and up to 25% of its weight, making them a key challenge for affordability and performance. Ford’s approach focuses on reducing drag, weight, and rolling resistance while simplifying vehicle architecture to extract more range from smaller batteries.
Central to the strategy is Ford’s internal “bounty” system, where engineering teams are assigned cost and efficiency targets linked directly to battery size and vehicle range. This system aligns teams across aerodynamics, interiors, and design to optimize trade-offs that impact both customer experience and manufacturing costs.
Ford has also overhauled its electrical architecture, moving to an in-house, integrated power electronics and energy management system. The new platform features five main electronic modules instead of more than 30 traditional ECUs, significantly reducing wiring complexity. The company has introduced a 48-volt low-voltage system, enabling thinner wiring and improved efficiency, resulting in a wiring harness 4,000 feet shorter and 22 pounds lighter than earlier-generation electric vehicles.
The integrated charging ecosystem, developed entirely in-house, will offer bi-directional charging capabilities and improved battery lifespan while reducing total ownership costs. Ford said these advancements will underpin its upcoming mid-size electric truck and future EV models.
Ford believes the UEV platform could enable a new family of electric vehicles priced competitively with gasoline vehicles, marking a critical step toward mainstream EV adoption. The company acknowledged skepticism but emphasized that its integrated systems engineering approach could set new benchmarks in efficiency, cost, and performance.
