Ford Motor Co. has priced its upcoming midsize electric pickup, the Fathom, at $28,350 for the standard-range battery, with pre-orders scheduled to open in early 2027 for the 2028 model year. The vehicle features an integrated bidirectional inverter capable of supplying more than 10 kW of power to a home without requiring a separate wall-mounted unit.
Electric vehicle shoppers accustomed to seeing battery-powered pickups clear the $50,000 threshold face a very different value proposition in Ford’s latest lineup addition. The Fathom starts at a base Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $28,350, excluding a $1,595 destination charge as detailed during the automaker’s Q3 earnings call.
While competing affordable offerings like the Slate Truck bypass traditional infotainment entirely by asking buyers to mount and charge their own smartphones, Ford takes a familiar consumer electronics route. The Fathom will feature a large built-in touchscreen supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, alongside bidirectional power hardware, and the software backbone for the company’s BlueCruise hands-free driving system.
Ford CEO Jim Farley Tests the Fathom Prototype in Louisville
Company leadership has already taken the upcoming pickup out for evaluation. During the Q3 2026 earnings announcement, Chief Executive Jim Farley shared his firsthand experience with test models currently undergoing evaluation in Louisville, Kentucky.
Ford's $28,350 Ford Fathom EV pickup will come with onboard power conversion tech that will slash the cost of setting it up as a home backup battery. Will other automakers join Ford and Tesla in pursuing AC V2H? And will utilities let them plug in?https://t.co/NJdPSHWq3Q
Wow! It completely blew me away. The 0 to 60, huge room inside, and the hands-free ADAS experience was like something I’ve never experienced.
Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Co., via Yahoo Finance
Farley described the truck as a breakthrough product designed to make EV ownership accessible to a broader demographic. Company disclosures indicate that while the base model opens at $28,350 before delivery fees, better-equipped versions climbing into the mid-$30,000 range will distinguish themselves primarily through advanced digital features and software capabilities rather than traditional aesthetic trims.
During the same Q3 2026 earnings call on Wednesday, Jim Farley also highlighted Ford’s energy deployment targets, stating that the company remains on track to bring online 20 gigawatt hours of annual capacity by the end of next year. Ford’s financial results for the quarter showed a total revenue of $49.53 billion, surpassing market expectations of $46.24 billion. Meanwhile, the automaker’s dedicated EV unit, Model e, registered an EBIT loss of $1.1 billion, representing a 25% year-over-year improvement.
Ford Integrates Inverters into Vehicle E-Box Modules
The defining technical differentiator for the Fathom sits inside its electrical architecture. Traditional bidirectional charging setups require an expensive external inverter to convert stored direct current from the vehicle battery into the alternating current used by household appliances. Ford has engineered a different approach following its 2023 acquisition of power electronics specialist Auto Motive Power, which brought a team of nearly 150 employees and a facility in Santa Fe Springs, California, into the automaker’s fold.
The inverter is built directly into the vehicle’s E-box module, allowing the truck to push more than 10 kW of AC power straight to a house without an external wall-mounted inverter box. Homeowners wishing to tap into that energy during grid outages or for time-of-use rate management will still need specialized home equipment, though Ford projects substantial price cuts over its previous generation of hardware.
| Hardware Component | Fathom-Era Cost Projections |
|---|---|
| Home Power Station | About half the price of the first-generation bidirectional charger |
| Home Backup Power Panel | At least 60% less than the first-generation equipment |
The Home Power Station manages regular energy-shifting tasks, while adding the Home Backup Panel provides full outage protection. However, exact retail prices for these home accessories remain unreleased as of late October 2026.
The system is designed to comply with applicable UL 1741 requirements and IEEE 1547 interconnection standards, while utilizing SAE J3068 communications technology to help minimize overall charging costs.
Ford Partners with Utilities to Streamline Interconnection Processes
Bringing affordable bidirectional power to thousands of driveways requires cooperation outside the factory floor. Ford established a collaborative working group in July alongside five major utilities to help define scalable interconnection processes.
🚨 Ford’s new Fathom EV platform could be an absolute GAME CHANGER!Ford is completely rethinking bidirectional charging with its upcoming sub-$30,000 electric pickup.⚡ 10+ kW of home backup power during outages.🔋 Built-in inverter eliminates the need for an expensive… pic.twitter.com/JbasaeFMI9
The initiative aims to streamline red tape across the more than 3,000 utility jurisdictions in the United States and Canada before customer trucks roll off assembly lines. Pre-orders for the 2028 model year are officially slated to open in early 2027, with production anchored by a $2 billion investment to retool the Louisville Assembly Plant around the Universal EV Production System.
More on Fathom
Ford’s $28,350 Fathom Targets the Lowest-Cost American EV Home-Power System/https://t.co/iYz5v9iF8h pic.twitter.com/6Z1Tf9p3jB
The breakthrough moment for bidirectional power is nearly here.The Ford Fathom will be the first EV from a U.S. automaker with an MSRP below $30,000 that does not need a separate wall-mounted inverter to supply more than 10 kW of AC power to a home! https://t.co/1HEb3ZuDZz pic.twitter.com/Nw0OKPCnpm