More than a century after Henry Ford walled off a team that created the Model T, the company is again rethinking how it designs and builds vehicles, this time for the electric era.
As other companies pull away from EVs, Ford is expanding operations at its Long Beach, California hub. There, it has brought together tools, talent and labs to design, test and refine Ford’s next generation of electric vehicles, beginning next year with an affordable midsize truck.
What started three years ago as a secret skunkworks project has grown into a 350-person team at the Electric Vehicle Development Center, blending Ford veterans and newcomers from automotive startups and consumer electronics. Staff from across vehicle development — including designers, engineers and supply chain experts — work just steps from one another and powerful technologies.
The campus also pairs the speed of a startup with the expertise and scale of a 122-year-old automaker. With freedom to experiment, the right tools nearby, and Ford’s manufacturing know-how behind them, the Advanced EV team can move ideas from concept to testing in hours or days instead of weeks or months — a pace reflected in its mantra of “fail fast, learn faster.”
“Innovation, ultimately, is what is going to help Ford win,” said Alan Clarke, vice president of Advanced Development Projects. “It is a whole different culture when you mix that all up.”