The Ford Fathom($28,350 EV truck thread)

[BenKohnen]

15 hours ago, sullynd said:

Are/were there dealers who were unscrupulous? Sure. Was it widespread? No. Charging $20,000 off our MSRP is a great click bait headline, and sure, some people paid it. Some people paid inflated prices for the cyber truck. That didn’t even involve the dealerships. Part of the craziness was the nature of the time. Even used car pricing went nuts during Covid. I’m sure I’ve spent a lot more time in the Mach-E and Lightning forums than you have. It wasn’t really all that widespread.

 

15 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

I can see dealerships trying to be dicks with ADMs when they first come out, but if its successful, supply will ruin that ability 

 

13 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

The community will come together as well to find a work around. Over on the maverick forums, I created one of the largest and longest running threads on the site pertaining to honest dealerships. It came at a time when dealers were being ridiculous regarding mavericks, especially at release. They were adding markups, and in many cases, literally selling trucks out from under buyers who ordered them. It was super shady. 

 

So we put together a nation wide collection of honest, reasonable dealerships who weren't playing games, and who treated people fairly. It was a win-win, giving buyers a better experience, and rewarding honest, sensible dealers with more business.

 

It worked. If dealerships try to act out again, we'll do the same thing. 

I'm of the mind that the boondoggle that was the Lightning should curb dealers marking the Fathom way up. As long as production can exceed initial demand, it won't make sense for dealers to mark them up. When the Mavericks came out, as we all remember, Ford couldn't build them fast enough to cover the demand. If you found one that was available on a lot, it was one that 1. was ordered and declined for whatever reason, 2. the dealer "put in a retail order" for a person they knew wasn't going to take the unit, or 3. if the dealer was shady, they "oops" sold an ordered unit. #1 was fairly common, we had a hybrid First Edition that was ordered, sat in the showroom for a few months while the buyer was out of state, then when he got back, he realized he couldn't swing the payments. A couple hours later it was sold at $7000 over sticker, and there was a race for sales guys calling people on their waiting lists. Was the markup uncalled for? No, it was a very high demand vehicle that people were willing to pay over sticker to get. Am I a fan of Additional Dealer Markup (ADM) or Market Adjustments? No, but it's part of the car world, and it's really the flip side of rebates and dealer price markdowns (See * below). #2, Ford kept that pretty straight with their order verification process. Most dealers weren't willing to risk overall allocation loss by faking retail orders. X-percent of ordered vehicles were required to be delivered to the individual on the order. When #1 scenario happened, you'd have to deliver to another name, so that's your percentage of ones that didn't go to the ordering individual. #3, I heard of a few cases but didn't see any around me. 

* There's plenty of times I'd be perfectly happy if all vehicles were just sold at MSRP flat. No rebates, no weird program incentives, and no "market adjustment" increases. But most of the time those adjustments are DOWN rather than up. For buyers, generally a market adjustment is well in their favor.

13 hours ago, 02MustangGT said:

Can we change the thread title to reflect the actual price of Fathom (lol at the name).  Yes, still “under $30k”:

 

Destination and delivery charges of $1,595 will bring the price to $29,945.

Ford actually had guidance on how to post the pricing, and the wording to put on social media. More of a directive than guidance, actually.
"Ford's newest midsize electric truck has a name: Ford Fathom .
We're excited to announce the name of our all-new electric truck, focused on affordability and accessibility for a wide range of lifestyles and needs. At a starting MSRP of $28,350* with the standard-range battery, the Ford Fathom truck is accessible to more customers.
Preorders will begin in early 2027. Stay tuned for more details.
*Starting MSRP is for base model and excludes taxes, title, registration, fees and a $1,595 destination and delivery charge."

 

Funny thing is that they just had a continuing education class we had to take on AI use. Their own wording and formatting screwed up being able to do a simple copy and paste. Some words wouldn't copy, and spacing/paragraph returns were weird.

 

11 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

I wonder if these site colors hint at some of the colors they'll offer. A green, blue, and peach like color, all pretty unique. 

This is a good find, especially knowing Ford loves dropping Easter Eggs. Vapor Blue is a current color, and one that was already in the paint sprayers at Louisville Assembly. The peach color could be our first look at the Birch Sand color coming on the F-150, or it could be something new. I think it's too light and pastel to be Iron Sands Copper Quartz from the Filson Bronco. The green is tough. It's too light to be Wild Green, too dark to be Avalanche. Maybe the return of Cactus Gray? Super throwback to Bohai Bay Mint Metallic? Something new?

Ford currently has 24 paint colors for 2027, and they haven't released the colors for the Bronco Sport, Maverick, Mustang, Mustang Mach-E, Ranger, or Fathom yet. Typically they've got 32-37 colors across the models in a particular year, so I suspect there's going to be several colors brought forward from 2026, several that go dormant, and several new colors. 2027 colors confirmed so far are:

Agate Black, Avalanche , Birch Sand, Blue Ember, Bronze Fire, Carbonized Gray, Dark Matter Gray, Desert Sand, Field Green, Glacier Gray, Iconic Silver, Iron Sands Copper Quartz, Marsh Gray, Neptune Blue, Nocturnal Blue, Oxford White, Race Red, Ruby Red, Shadow Black, Shelter Green, Star White, Vapor Blue, Wild Green

2026 colors not yet seen on 2027 models are:

Adriatic Blue, Antimatter Blue, Argon Blue, Azure Gray, Eruption Green, Grabber Blue, Ingot Silver, Molten Magenta, Orange Fury, Rapid Red, Robin's Egg Blue/Light Blue, Wimbledon White, Stone Blue, Velocity Blue, Space Silver, Space White

[Zestyg]

1 hour ago, T-dubz said:

Kind of embarrassing when the Nissan leaf offers 303 miles of range for $30k and they aren’t even using some new manufacturing process to lower costs like ford is.

Nissan Leaf just has a much bigger battery. If this thing does ~4.0 miles/kwh like the new Bolt and other competitors, a 55 kwh battery gets you 220 miles of range. If it’s 3.6 mi/kwh (older bolt) then that is 200. If its battery is larger, 65 kwh, then we’re looking at 235 to 265 miles of range. I personally feel that the battery is likely larger, but if someone here with inside info (NOT BORG) has any insight to battery size that would probably help clear things up.

 

edit: it is worth noting that Ford previously did say that they’re aiming for 15% smaller than BYD atto, which would mean 51 kwh, which supports a 200 mile range for base. That definitely could be a problem, but I would at least personally be fine with it.

Edited August 7 by Zestyg

[akirby]

1 hour ago, T-dubz said:

Kind of embarrassing when the Nissan leaf offers 303 miles of range for $30k and they aren’t even using some new manufacturing process to lower costs like ford is.

Not embarrassing at all.  I'd bet a lot that Ford's base model will have more features and functionality not to mention a truck bed which is far more useful and desirable than a sedan/hatchback.

 

Leaf has almost no options on the base model and only 3 colors - dark blue, black and grey.  White is a $450 option. For a car.  And only the stripped down base is 303 miles range.  Higher trims are 288 and 259.

 

If anything I think Fathom will be a much better bargain especially if it has 300 miles range around $34k.

 

 

[akirby]

Why is a 200 mile base range a problem if they're offering a 300 mile option?  A lot of folks don't drive more than 50 miles a day and might like 200 mile range to save money.

[Zestyg]

13 minutes ago, akirby said:

Why is a 200 mile base range a problem if they're offering a 300 mile option?  A lot of folks don't drive more than 50 miles a day and might like 200 mile range to save money.

It’s just a risk, since its a new product strategy to offer a much cheaper low range option. It is one worth taking, especially if the battery option is priced well. If the battery option is priced poorly then it would make this product really reliant on charging speed and charging network density, which is not up to snuff everywhere in the country. 

[Zestyg]

2 hours ago, rmc523 said:

 

Following up your question.....Borg directly addressed AWD:

 

 

To add more details. Base gets you RWD and 200 Miles of range. Add $2K for AWD (like Tesla), and about $3-4K for extended range which is around 280-300 miles. So around $40K for loaded, I’d estimate.

I’m estimating the extended battery price based on Mach E, which is over $4K but larger and more expensive than the standard range LFP packs.

 

 

200 eh?  hmmm.............sounds low.

 

I guess Slate has 205 standard with less space.....I'm just worried about how people will react to it, especially since real-world numbers likely won't hit that figure.

Its worth noting that unless BORG is including options he didn’t mention, the implied out-the-door price including sales tax here would be ~$38k ($29,945+$2k awd + $4k battery  +~ 7% sales tax = $38,461.15, this is not including registration and any other fees which probably does bring you to $40k). The Equinox EV LT1 is like $40,625 with AWD and no options before sales tax, I think the Ioniq 5 only gets AWD at its top trim which brings you close to $50k. Model Y AWD base is like $44k before taxes and fees. 
 

Overall this does seem to be a better deal than competitors.

[Texasota]

On 8/5/2026 at 1:56 PM, Deanh said:

be prepared for a hybrid resurgence...

Dean, that snippet intrigues me more than the Skunk Truck. Any more hints for us? 

[akirby]

13 minutes ago, Zestyg said:

It’s just a risk, since its a new product strategy to offer a much cheaper low range option.

No different than my base 1990 Ranger with an anemic 2.3L 100 hp base engine.   I had the option to upgrade to a v6 but chose to save money.

 

The ones buying the base battery won't care just like I didn't mind the lack of power.  

[Texasota]

Where’s our friend @morgan20, he should be all over this thread?

[akirby]

1 minute ago, Texasota said:

Where’s our friend @morgan20, he should be all over this thread?

Last visited July 22.  

[rmc523]

48 minutes ago, Texasota said:

Dean, that snippet intrigues me more than the Skunk Truck. Any more hints for us? 

 

Well, Ford itself has said the whole lineup would be hybridized ("electrified") by the end of the decade didn't they?

[rmc523]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

Why is a 200 mile base range a problem if they're offering a 300 mile option?  A lot of folks don't drive more than 50 miles a day and might like 200 mile range to save money.

 

For me, it's more the optics of it.  People see 200 and know the actual range will be less than projected.   The biggest hurdle with the EVs continues to be the mindset of not needing X number of miles daily.  But also charging ability.   I'm just weary that 200 isn't "good enough" for most people, but they also must have research that says it'll be fine.  And to your point, there's an optional increase as well.

 

 

I'll asterisk all this with knowing 200 isn't the official number, and it may be different at debut....

[Zestyg]

3 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

For me, it's more the optics of it.  People see 200 and know the actual range will be less than projected.   The biggest hurdle with the EVs continues to be the mindset of not needing X number of miles daily.  But also charging ability.   I'm just weary that 200 isn't "good enough" for most people, but they also must have research that says it'll be fine.  And to your point, there's an optional increase as well.

 

 

I'll asterisk all this with knowing 200 isn't the official number, and it may be different at debut....

AFAIK 200 with LFP actually means 200

[Sherminator98]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

Why is a 200 mile base range a problem if they're offering a 300 mile option?  A lot of folks don't drive more than 50 miles a day and might like 200 mile range to save money.

 

So what are they considering base range? 100% or 80% charge?

 

So digging into this a bit more, say your using the 80% charge as a baseline (since charging to 100% shouldn't happen regularly) and max range is 200-so that leaves you with 160 miles of range. Say its cold out or the winter time, you'll lose another 15-20% of range-I used 15% so your down to 136 miles at that point.

There is a place I go to in CT that is about 157 miles from my house and about a 2 1/2 hour drive. I just checked and I can't even charge at the hotel and there is no charging locally (even though I thought there was)

 

So using my trip as a baseline, I'd be very leery of trying to make that ride with a base model Fathom in the wintertime. 

 

It would be fine for very local driving, but if you even wanted to take a slightly longer drive, it would be compromised to other EV options that offer longer range. 

Edited August 7 by Sherminator98

[Zestyg]

5 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

So what are they considering base range? 100% or 80% charge?

 

So digging into this a bit more, say your using the 80% charge as a baseline (since charging to 100% shouldn't happen regularly) and max range is 200-so that leaves you with 160 miles of range. Say its cold out or the winter time, you'll lose another 15-20% of range-I used 15% so your down to 136 miles at that point.
 

LFP can and should be charged to 100% unlike other chemistries.

[DeluxeStang]

2 hours ago, akirby said:

Why is a 200 mile base range a problem if they're offering a 300 mile option?  A lot of folks don't drive more than 50 miles a day and might like 200 mile range to save money.

I'll add it's not like 200-300 miles is that low. I wager most gas vehicles on a full tank will go 250-400 miles. Some V8 trucks and sports cars with a lot of power need to fill up like every 200 miles. My explorer is 360. 

 

A range of 200-300 isn't bad, especially if you charge at home. My only outlier is my mav hybrid than can do close to 600 miles on a 14 gallon tank, but the maverick is a freak. 

[blazerdude20]

42 minutes ago, Zestyg said:

LFP can and should be charged to 100% unlike other chemistries.

Yes! And it doesn’t have the temperature penalty like older chemistries. The lightning suffered from winter range drop pretty badly. Hopefully not an issue this go round. 

[DeluxeStang]

5 hours ago, Flying68 said:

They should offer colors like Mopar did in the muscle car era.  As my daughter likes to point out, car colors are boring, they need more vibrant selections.  Probably because she drives our old MkC, which is black on black.  If these new, cheap, EV's are intended for a younger audience, make them appeal to the younger audience.

Agreed, Ford has said the price is the least interesting thing about this truck. Like they're trying really hard to make it fun, sporty, aspirational, and not just some cheap generic product. 

 

The color options make a huge difference in this regard. Give us fun colors, not just 31 flavors of white, silver, and black. Young people want vibrant colors. 

[T-dubz]

2 hours ago, akirby said:

Why is a 200 mile base range a problem if they're offering a 300 mile option?  A lot of folks don't drive more than 50 miles a day and might like 200 mile range to save money.

Maybe embarrassed was too harsh. It’s more of a let down than anything. 200 mile range is a no-go for many. 300 mile range for 30k seemed doable with all the innovations ford has implemented and what other companies have achieved without those innovations.

[DeluxeStang]

4 hours ago, rmc523 said:

 

Yeah, it's definitely seeming like that repeated usage of color hints at them being either paint or interior accent options.

I also wonder if that image pattern with the rounded rectangles and circles hints at either a faux grille pattern (mixed messages on that one), or perhaps a speaker grille pattern or something.   Or maybe I'm grasping at straws lol.

 

 

Ford already has set a precedence with this with Bronco of the panels that can be swapped out.  I could see them offering them on this product to capture some of the customization options Slate has (also helps with the "passion" mantra by letting people pick "their" color).  Now they have to just not overcharge for the parts.......

Good catch, I don't believe we'll get a grille insert, unless they really wanna go after slate like you mentioned. I think most of the accessories with be things related to the interior, maybe some sort of bed customization. 

 

I like your comment about maybe using the pattern for a speaker cover or something. 

 

Ford filed a patent some time ago for having glowing elements in wheels and tires. I know that's cheesy, but I think that's kinda fun. 

[DeluxeStang]

A common theme with this truck that seems to be a promising sign is how it's converting people into believers. Dean seemed to really like it. I saw an Instagram vid of a guy who said he wasn't very excited about it going in, and came out thinking it was gonna be a home run. 

 

He didn't say much, just that people are gonna love the flexibility, and love the way it looks. 

[Zestyg]

17 minutes ago, T-dubz said:

Maybe embarrassed was too harsh. It’s more of a let down than anything. 200 mile range is a no-go for many. 300 mile range for 30k seemed doable with all the innovations ford has implemented and what other companies have achieved without those innovations.

With how small the battery seems to be they’d have to have over 20% better efficiency than Lucid to get 300 miles. The other way would be increasing the battery size to above 70 kwh, which would mean you only need to be as efficient as a Toyota bZ to get 300. If Ford can manufacture battery for $100/kwh, then that would be another ~$2,000 in manufacturing costs which would bring the Fathom up to like probably $32k-ish after destination once you account for Ford’s need to profit on that $2,000. Close, but not quite.

[Texasota]

1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

 

Well, Ford itself has said the whole lineup would be hybridized ("electrified") by the end of the decade didn't they?

Sure, but there are many different types of hybrids. I find hybrids fascinating technology and they fit my needs/wants very well. Eager to learn more.

[Sherminator98]

1 hour ago, Zestyg said:

LFP can and should be charged to 100% unlike other chemistries.

From Google Gemini, so take with a huge grain of salt 

 

Yes, you should charge Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries to 100%, but only once a week. While LFP chemistry handles high states of charge better than other lithium-ion types, keeping it at 100% all the time causes extra stress

 

[Deanh]

3 hours ago, Texasota said:

Dean, that snippet intrigues me more than the Skunk Truck. Any more hints for us? 

nothing solid per say...but itwas mentioned at the Dealer meeting to expect hybrid drivetrains basically across the board....