Speaking on Ford's Q3 2026 earnings call Wednesday, CEO Jim Farley revealed he personally tested the company's upcoming sub-$30,000 Fathom EV pickup, which is being tested in Louisville, Kentucky.

According to AOL, citing Benzinga's coverage of the call, Farley said the experience 'completely blew me away,' pointing to the truck's 0-60 acceleration, huge interior room, and a hands-free ADAS experience he called 'like something I've never experienced.'

He labeled the Fathom a 'breakthrough product' and confirmed it remains on track for the fourth quarter of next year.

The surprising part is the price point. Per Benzinga's report carried by AOL, Farley said the Fathom's under-$30,000 MSRP — reported in the headline as roughly $28,000 — plus a low cost of ownership would make it 'available to more Americans' and 'perfect for today's market.'

Electric pickups so far have clustered at premium prices, so a genuinely affordable EV truck from an incumbent automaker would reshape the segment rather than merely compete in it.

The claims come with hardware behind them.

Ford has said the Fathom will support bidirectional power flow and can deliver more than 10 kW of projected AC power to a home without a separate wall-mounted inverter — a rare capability in the U.S. market, where Rivian's new R2 also offers 11 kW of bidirectional AC output, as InsideEVs notes.

The earnings backdrop was strong: Ford posted 49 cents per share against estimates of 41 cents and $49.53 billion in revenue, though Model e still lost $1.1 billion on an EBIT basis, a 25% year-over-year improvement.

Ford is not launching into a vacuum. InsideEVs' first drive of the Rivian R2 praises a software-defined EV with 656 horsepower, up to 330 miles of range, and 4,400 pounds of towing, with Performance Launch models at $59,485 and a future single-motor RWD version from $46,485.

Per Benzinga's account of the call, the Fathom remains on track for the fourth quarter of next year, giving Ford time to scale its battery and software programs.

Farley also flagged Ford's parallel energy business: 20 gigawatt hours of annual LFP cell capacity online by the end of next year, with about 80% of 2026-adjacent energy storage capacity already in late-stage negotiations or under executed contracts.