Ford's next-gen electric pickup will start at $28K and be called Fathom

• For CEO Jim Farley, the project is nothing short of a "Model T moment" for Ford.

By the numbers: The starting price puts Fathom right on top of Ford's small Maverick hybrid pickup, which starts at $28,145.

• Add $1,595 for delivery, and the base Fathom costs just shy of $30,000 for the standard battery package.
• Ford has not shown the vehicle to the public yet, but pre-orders begin in early 2027.

Zoom in: The Fathom was designed from the ground up by a skunkworks group of engineers obsessed with efficiency and cost reductions.

• It will seat five adults and is projected to have more passenger volume than a Toyota RAV4.
• The truck will also feature a large, high-resolution touchscreen, bidirectional power capability, and a front trunk, or "frunk," in addition to the pickup cargo bed.
• Tech features include Ford's BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system integrated with Apple Maps for a more seamless on-ramp to off-ramp experience, the company says.

The intrigue: Ford spent nine months trying to come up with the name, rejecting typical alphanumeric codes as well as legacy names from the Ford archives like Galaxie, Taurus and Ranchero.

• In the end, Ford said it chose Fathom to reflect "a new depth of innovation" that allowed the company "to fathom possibilities once thought beyond reach."