Dearborn, United States: production site of Ford pickup trucks. (Photo by: DR/SP/Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesFord has finally put a name and a firm price on the affordable electric pickup it has been promising. It's the Fathom, and the least expensive version will start at $28,350 before a $1,595 destination charge, bringing the delivered price to $29,945.That low figure's pretty unheard of these days, so it's good news. If you've been hot on electric vehicles since the start, you were pretty much out of luck if you wanted one under $30,000. Pickups have generally landed far above the budgets of ordinary buyers as well. Ford's own F-150 Lightning began life as an attainable electric work truck, but it banged up into much more expensive territory before the company ended production of the fully electric model.At this price, if it holds, Fathom will sit alongside Ford's Maverick, giving shoppers an electric alternative to one of the least expensive conventional pickups on the American market today as well.Rear quarter of white Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck with taillight and badge visible, parked by a chain-link fence on a sunny day, San Francisco, California, September 18, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)All about the FathomThis midsize, four-door pickup will be the first vehicle built on Ford's Universal Electric Vehicle Platform, an architecture created specifically to cut costs and simplify production. Ford plans to build it at its Louisville Assembly Plant using what it calls an "assembly tree." Instead of moving the entire vehicle down one long production line, three sections will be built simultaneously and joined near the end.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe base Fathom will use a standard-range lithium-iron-phosphate battery and rear-wheel drive. Ford has not yet announced the battery's capacity or estimated driving range, two numbers that will determine whether the headline price represents a useful truck or merely a showroom lure.A larger battery and all-wheel drive will also be available at additional cost. It seems if you're buying a truck that's gonna tow or haul, the more power, the better.What does it look like?Ford has not shown the completed truck publicly, but it has released several practical details.*Fathom will seat five*It'll offer more passenger volume than a Toyota RAV4.*It will include a front trunk as well as an open pickup bed, a large touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, bidirectional power capability and a digital key.Every Fathom will also contain the hardware needed for BlueCruise, Ford's hands-free highway driving system, although owners may have to pay separately to activate the service.Where does the name come from?The truck's name came after a nine-month search during which Ford considered both alphanumeric labels and familiar names from its past, including Ranchero. The company ultimately chose something new because Fathom is not simply another version of an existing Ford. It rides on a new platform and will be produced by a new manufacturing process.Can they hold this low price?In the past, automakers have repeatedly announced attractively priced electric vehicles only to launch them later, costing more and more difficult to find than what people were led to believe.AdvertisementAdvertisementFathom is still more than a year away, with preorders scheduled to open in early 2027 and customer deliveries expected that fall.This article was originally published on Forbes.com