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

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.  

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

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.

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. 

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.

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.    

Interesting development.  So it would seem that Blue Bird is taking over Detroit Chassis and will be designing the next generation F-53 and F-59, with Ford continuing to supply the powertrain and service.  I believe the current F-53 and F-59 are Ford designed, and Ford contracted their manufacture out to Detroit Chassis.    Funny thing, I was expecting the manufacture of the F-53 and F-59 would move to Avon Lake when Ford introduced the 650/750 medium duty line to that plant, as both series of vehicles are straight-frame type and very similar.  I believe the contract to have Detroit Chassis build the F-53 and F-59 started when Ford turned KTP over to Super Duty production.    Sorry Joe, I don't think you are going to see the Ford 'Blue Oval' on any 'Blue Bird' products as Blue Bird is also taking over sales of the F-53 and F-59 and will likely brand them as such.  It's their chassis now, although it will still have a Ford engine.  Still, I consider it a win-win for Ford.  There's very little profit is stripped chassis, and this gets Ford out of the responsibility for design, manufacture, and sales.  The major player in the chassis business is FCCC (Freightliner) and they are a tough competitor with a great product.     https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260805699829/en/Blue-Bird-Enters-Definitive-Agreement-with-Ford-to-Expand-Commercial-Stripped-Chassis-Operations

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.

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. 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.   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