US electric vehicle sales growth has slowed compared with earlier in the decade, prompting automakers to recalibrate capital allocation, as exemplified by Ford’s decision to cancel plans for a new pure electric van and a fully electric F150 pickup following the Trump administration’s removal of federal purchase incentives and easing of vehicle emissions regulations.
The policy shift removes several demand side supports that underpinned earlier EV rollout assumptions. The Biden era tax credit program, which offered up to $7,500 for new EV purchases and up to $4,000 for used vehicles, closed in September 2025. In parallel, the Trump administration reversed the previous non binding target for EVs to account for half of new vehicle sales by 2030 and instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to loosen interim federal emissions standards. Together, these moves reduce both consumer incentives and compliance driven demand for zero emission vehicles.
Against this backdrop, Ford has confirmed it will not proceed with a fully electric version of its F 150 pickup. Instead, the F 150 Lightning platform will be redesigned as a hybrid, aligning the model more closely with near term consumer preferences and infrastructure realities. Plans for a new electric van have also been shelved. The company characterized the changes as customer driven while pointing to high production costs and regulatory changes as contributing factors.
Ford’s retrenchment mirrors similar moves by competitors including General Motors, Honda, Jeep, and Ram, all of which have delayed or scaled back US EV launches. While EV adoption continues, growth has been uneven across segments, with larger vehicles and commercial fleets proving more sensitive to upfront costs and charging availability. Hybrid powertrains, which offer fuel savings without full reliance on charging infrastructure, have emerged as a lower risk bridge technology under current market conditions.
Chief executive Jim Farley framed the shift in explicitly financial terms, noting that the operating environment has changed and that capital is being redirected toward higher return opportunities. Despite the pullback on specific models, Ford has not abandoned electrification entirely. The company still expects roughly half of its global sales to come from hybrids and EVs by 2030, up from about 17 percent today, and has retained its long term goal of achieving carbon neutrality across operations, supply chains, and vehicles by 2050 or earlier.
One area where electrification investment is accelerating is battery energy storage. Ford has acknowledged that excess capacity in EV battery manufacturing has become a financial challenge as vehicle demand softened. Rather than mothballing assets, the company plans to repurpose part of that capacity for large scale stationary energy storage systems, a market seeing rising interest from utilities, energy developers, and data center operators as electricity demand from artificial intelligence workloads grows.
Ford’s Kentucky battery manufacturing site will be converted to produce lithium iron phosphate prismatic cells, battery energy storage system modules, and 20 foot direct current containerized systems. Initial production capacity is expected to come online within 18 months, supported by a joint venture structure involving SK On, SK Battery America, and BlueOval SK. In Michigan, BlueOval Battery Park is slated to begin producing energy storage solutions for homes and small businesses starting in 2026. The company plans to invest $2 billion over the next two years to scale its battery energy storage business, covering manufacturing as well as sales and servicing.
