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Ford Project T3 – its next-gen pickup- is coming in 2025

Ford EV pickup concept (Credit: Tyler Kwon) *Not an official Ford design*

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Ford’s Project T3 – its next-generation pickup truck – is set to be produced at the BlueOval City mega-campus in West Tennessee in 2025, the company announced today.

“BlueOval City is the blueprint for Ford’s electric future around the world,” Bill Ford, the company’s executive chair, said. “We will build revolutionary electric vehicles at an advanced manufacturing site that works in harmony with the planet, aligning business growth and innovation with environmental progress.”

ford blueoval city

Credit: Ford

Project T3 is the next revolutionary EV that Ford plans to build. The new pickup “is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionize America’s truck,” Jim Farley, CEO, said.

Ford has offered a new electric truck by electrifying its F-150, America’s favorite truck for the last few decades. The F-150 Lightning has been one of the premiere EV trucks in the country, along with the Rivian R1T.

However, Ford plans to bring additional competition to the market by combining a century of experience with its newfound expertise in EVs to bring a highly competitive offering that should be among the best on the market.

Farley said, “We are melding 100 years of Ford truck know-how with world-class electric vehicle, software, and aerodynamics talent. It will be a platform for endless innovation and capability.”

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In February, Farley said during Ford’s earnings call that the company was “deep in the development” of second-generation EVs, including a “next-generation electric full-size pickup.”

T3 is short for “Trust the Truck,” which the development team made its rallying cry. Ultimately, Ford wants to build a truck that can be trusted in the digital age, one that can be updated and improved overnight with a quick software download. It also needs to be applicable to a variety of activities, like hauling and towing, but it also needs to have exportable power to act as a battery storage system, and it needs to be innovative.

The truck will be built at BlueOval City, where it will be produced in volumes of 500,000 per year.

Ford breaks ground at BlueOval City, home of F-150 Lightning successor

Ford and SK On, its battery production partner, are investing $5.6 billion in the campus, and it will bring 6,000 new jobs to the region.

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I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla launches its new branded Supercharger for Business with first active station

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially launched its first branded Supercharger just months after initiating a new program that allows third-party companies to brand their own charging piles.

The site opened in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, and features eight V4 Supercharging stalls offering up to 325 kW of charging speed. It appears it was purchased by a company called Suncoast Credit Union. This particular branch is located Northeast of Tampa, which is on the Gulf of Mexico.

It features graphics of Florida animals, like alligators:

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Tesla launched this program back in September, and it basically was a way to expand its Supercharger presence and also allow companies to pay for the infrastructure. Tesla maintains it. When it announced the “Supercharger for Business,” it said:

“Purchase and install Superchargers at your business. Superchargers are compatible with all electric vehicles, bringing EV drivers to your business by offering convenient, reliable charging.”

The program does a few things. Initially, it expands EV charging infrastructure and makes charging solutions more readily available for drivers. It can also attract people to those businesses specifically.

Tesla launches new Supercharger program that business owners will love

The chargers can also be branded with any logo that the business chooses, which makes them more personalized and also acts as an advertisement.

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The best part is that the customers do not have to maintain anything about the Supercharger. Tesla still takes care of it and resolves any issues:

“We treat your site like we treat our sites. By providing you with a full-service package that includes network operations, preventative maintenance, and driver support, we’re able to guarantee 97% uptime–the highest in the industry.”

It appears the Superchargers will also appear within the in-car nav during routing, so they’ll be publicly available to anyone who needs to use them. They are still available to all EVs that have worked with Tesla to utilize its infrastructure, and they are not restricted to people who are only visiting the business.

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Tesla reveals its Cybertruck light bar installation fix

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u/Kruzat, see page for license, via Wikimedia Commons

Tesla has revealed its Cybertruck light bar installation fix after a recall exposed a serious issue with the accessory.

Tesla and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated a recall of 6,197 Cybertrucks back in October to resolve an issue with the Cybertruck light bar accessory. It was an issue with the adhesive that was provided by a Romanian company called Hella Romania S.R.L.

Tesla recalls 6,197 Cybertrucks for light bar adhesive issue

The issue was with the primer quality, as the recall report from the NHTSA had stated the light bar had “inadvertently attached to the windshield using the incorrect surface primer.”

Instead of trying to adhere the light bar to the Cybertruck with an adhesive, Tesla is now going to attach it with a bracketing system, which will physically mount it to the vehicle instead of relying on adhesive strips or glue.

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Tesla outlines this in its new Service Bulletin, labeled SB-25-90-001, (spotted by Not a Tesla App) where it shows the light bar will be remounted more securely:

The entire process will take a few hours, but it can be completed by the Mobile Service techs, so if you have a Cybertruck that needs a light bar adjustment, it can be done without taking the vehicle to the Service Center for repair.

However, the repair will only happen if there is no delamination or damage present; then Tesla could “retrofit the service-installed optional off-road light bar accessory with a positive mechanical attachment.”

The company said it would repair the light bar at no charge to customers. The light bar issue was one that did not result in any accidents or injuries, according to the NHTSA’s report.

This was the third recall on Cybertruck this year, as one was highlighted in March for exterior trim panels detaching during operation. Another had to do with front parking lights being too bright, which was fixed with an Over-the-Air update last month.

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Tesla is already expanding its Rental program aggressively

The program has already launched in a handful of locations, specifically, it has been confined to California for now. However, it does not seem like Tesla has any interest in keeping it restricted to the Golden State.

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Credit: Grok

Tesla is looking to expand its Rental Program aggressively, just weeks after the program was first spotted on its Careers website.

Earlier this month, we reported on Tesla’s intention to launch a crazy new Rental program with cheap daily rates, which would give people in various locations the opportunity to borrow a vehicle in the company’s lineup with some outrageous perks.

Along with the cheap rates that start at about $60 per day, Tesla also provides free Full Self-Driving operation and free Supercharging for the duration of the rental. There are also no limits on mileage or charging, but the terms do not allow the renter to leave the state from which they are renting.

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The program has already launched in a handful of locations, specifically, it has been confined to California for now. However, it does not seem like Tesla has any interest in keeping it restricted to the Golden State.

Job postings from Tesla now show it is planning to launch the Rental program in at least three new states: Texas, Tennessee, and Massachusetts.

The jobs specifically are listed as a Rental Readiness Specialist, which lists the following job description:

“The Tesla Rental Program is looking for a Rental Readiness Specialist to work on one of the most progressive vehicle brands in the world. The Rental Readiness Specialist is a key contributor to the Tesla experience by coordinating the receipt of incoming new and used vehicle inventory. This position is responsible for fleet/lot management, movement of vehicles, vehicle readiness, rental invoicing, and customer hand-off. Candidates must have a high level of accountability, and personal satisfaction in doing a great job.”

It also says that those who take the position will have to charge and clean the cars, work with clients on scheduling pickups and drop-offs, and prepare the paperwork necessary to initiate the rental.

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The establishment of a Rental program is big for Tesla because it not only gives people the opportunity to experience the vehicles, but it is also a new way to rent a car.

Just as the Tesla purchasing process is more streamlined and more efficient than the traditional car-buying experience, it seems this could be less painful and a new way to borrow a car for a trip instead of using your own.

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