Ford scrapped its big-EV plans mid-build — the bill was $19.5B

Ford had committed its EV push to large, premium vehicles: the F-150 Lightning, the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center, and a forecast that its Model E division would be profitable by 2026. As late as August 2025 it announced a $2 billion retooling of a Kentucky factory around a new universal EV platform. On December 15, 2025 the company reversed course: roughly $19.5 billion of special items, most recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025, including an $8.5 billion write-down of EV assets and $5.5 billion of cash expenses running through 2027.

The unwind was specific. Next-generation large electric trucks were cancelled; the current F-150 Lightning ended production after the 2025 model year, its nameplate to return as an extended-range EV with a gasoline generator. The Tennessee electric plant becomes a truck plant in 2029; an Ohio plant shifts to gas and hybrid cars; some battery capacity was repurposed to energy storage for data centers. Model E profitability was re-promised for 2029.

The trigger was demand: the federal $7,500 EV tax credit ended early in September 2025 and the US electric market slumped. CEO Jim Farley said 'we evaluated the market, and we made the call', adding the company was 'following customers to where the market is'. Excluding the charge, Ford raised its 2025 operating profit target to $7 billion on gasoline-truck sales — and its shares rose about 2% after hours. The market rewarded the retreat.