Outside of Ford’s traditional base in Dearborn, Michigan, specifically in a city that Ford had formerly left behind, Long Beach, California, the future of the company’s new midsize electric vehicle pickups are starting to take shape. Ford’s new Electric Vehicle Development Center (EVDC) will house the once-covert skunk works team headed by Alan Clarke, the former head of engineering at Tesla who joined Ford three years ago, among hangers that are pioneering developments in space exploration as well as commercial aviation.
This team is currently working to create a platform capable of supporting a variety of future Ford electric vehicles, including a cheap and new midsize electric truck and a compact SUV debuting in 2027. Many of the conventional methods in automotive production are meant to be transformed by the activities going on at the Long Beach plant, which we got the chance to visit.
Rather than the conventional methodical progression of a car from concept to production through several design, aerodynamics, packaging, and engineering teams, Alan Clarke‘s team of 350 engineers, designers, and technical employees is working hand in glove with Dearborn and Palo Alto, California teams. They shepherd Ford’s new electric truck, first second-generation electric vehicle, which has only been confirmed to be a midsize pickup, into production.
Integrating aerodynamicists with designers, closures engineers with chassis engineers, and body engineers with drivetrain engineers, this team functions like Clarke’s teams did at Tesla. The goal, as Clarke clarifies, is not only to motivate the group to challenge beliefs and current constraints but also to cultivate empathy among team members and develop a closer awareness of each other’s difficulties.
Further read on Ford Mondeo 2025 and check out its specifications researched by our Advisorwheels team.
Although earned, the other advantages are just as important. “Sometimes an advantage could be, ‘Hey, the function of your part is doing the same thing that mine is doing. Maybe this could be one part,’ Clarke said. He further added, “So when you start celebrating two people who can delete their job by deleting their part.”
