After the F-150 Lightning, Ford’s next electric pickup could arrive as the Ranchero EV. Ford filed a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) under the name Ranchero on August 5, 2025.
Although details are slim, the application is for motor vehicles, specifically trucks, vans, utility vehicles, and electric cars.
The company opened its new EV Design Center in Long Beach, California, this week, where it will bring the midsize electric pickup to life. It’s expected to arrive in 2027. Ford’s “skunkworks” team, led by Tesla’s former engineer Alan Clarke, has grown over the past year with former Tesla, Rivian, and Apple employees
GM-Hyundai joint venture is working on a midsized pick-up also.
The Lighting doesn’t sell worth a lick, so Farley doubles down, with another EV pickup.
The new one will probably be built at Louisville Assembly, as that plant will be idle by the end of the year. Louisville could have kept cranking out Escapes, taking advantage of the Bronco Sport and Equinox being hobbled by tariffs. But no. Instead of the plant cranking out 300,000 new cars per year, production will be a fraction of that number, with a proportionally lower staff headcount.
And, what if all Farley accomplishes with the new pickup is cannibalizing the Lightining? That’s what happened when he launched the Bronco Sport: there is almost an exact, one for one, relationship between Bronco Sports sold, and reduction in Escape volume.
Steve