A few years back, Ford CEO Jim Farley told the world that the company was working on a three-row electric SUV that would redefine the large EV. It would arrive in 2025, offer 350 miles of range, and rely not on the sheer capacity of a large battery pack, but instead on slippery aerodynamics and other efficiency innovations.
You may have noticed, but it has been 2026 for three and a half months already, and this mystery moonshot SUV is nowhere to be found. That’s because it was canceled in August of 2024, along with many other pure-electric programs at Ford. The most we ever saw of the concept was a rendering of air moving over passengers riding in a disembodied cabin.
That is, until a little less than a year ago, when now-retired Ford EV boss Doug Field posted it to Linkedin as his banner image. Yep, this is Ford’s “bullet train” EV in all of its experimental glory. Don’t believe us? That’s fine. But do you believe Ford?
“It is the 3-row SUV we cancelled in 2024,” a Ford spokesperson confirmed to The Drive. “It is now a research vehicle that is informing our next generation of electric vehicles. You will see its significant influence on our next gen electric vehicles.”
Another company representative forwarded this description of the image itself, which Ford included when it was shown at the Aspen Ideas Festival last year:
Ford Development Prototype, 2024
Meet the seven-passenger SUV that feels like your own personal bullet train—a longer, sleeker, and whisper-quiet vehicle designed from the inside-out. Its amazing interior space is a digital sanctuary, built for connection and shared moments across all three rows. Extraordinary aerodynamics create extreme highway efficiency, while high-rate charging adds 100 miles of range in only six minutes. This smart design delivers choice without compromise: 350+ miles of pure electric freedom or a 550-mile extended-range journey.
While Ford pivoted from this electric three-row (along with the current F-150 Lightning), it has not abandoned the battery-electric market. The company has a new small electric pickup in the works that it plans to release at a $30,000 price point—provided it can keep costs under control in the volatile economy.
That new pickup will ride on a platform that will spawn several more affordable EVs, Ford says.
Normally, automakers don’t like to talk about unreleased products (canceled or otherwise), so this is a rare confirmation of the existence of something that will probably never see the light of day.
Got a news tip? Let us know at tips@thedrive.com!
The post Ford’s Never-Seen, Canceled Moonshot EV Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight Online for a Year appeared first on The Drive.
