Manufacturing Technology
Auto Mix: Ford’s $5 Billion Plan, Universal EV Platform, Revel’s Pivot & More
Updated on Tue, Aug 12, 2025
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Recently, reports broke out that Elon Musk’s Tesla decided to disband its Dojo supercomputer team—a development that came courtesy of sources familiar with the matter.
This was later clarified by Elon Musk through a post on X, saying, “Once it became clear that all paths converged to AI6, I had to shut down Dojo and make some tough personnel choices, as Dojo 2 was now an evolutionary dead end. Dojo 3 arguably lives on in the form of a large number of AI6 SoCs on a single board.”
It’s believed the $16.5 billion deal with Samsung Electronics for AI chips may have played a pivotal role.
Either way, Tesla has been adjusting well to shifting tides, having taken key steps in its bid to deploy robotaxis, as well as other initiatives.
In the spirit of adjusting to shifting tides, renowned and pioneering carmaker Ford Motor Company has come up with a series of announcements that are set to revitalize its position in the automotive industry, especially in the electric vehicle (EV) segment.
Ford Motor Company announced a series of “engineering and manufacturing” steps that it would be taking “to bring a new family of affordable, high-quality electric vehicles within reach for millions around the world.”
This includes the introduction of the new Ford Universal EV Platform and Ford Universal EV Production System—a move that builds on the company's 122-year history. It also takes inspiration from the 120-year-old Ford Model T, which became known as “Universal Car,” thanks to its affordable, adaptable, and serviceable characteristics.
Ford describes the Ford Universal EV Platform as “a new idea for a new era,” which is designed to deliver a simple, efficient, flexible ecosystem to deliver a family of affordable, electric, software-defined vehicles.”
As such, the first planned vehicle under the new platform will be a midsize, four-door electric pickup scheduled to be launched in 2027, with a targeted starting price of about $30,000.
“We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters – design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership—and do it with American workers,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley.
The Ford Universal EV Platform will reduce parts by 20%, feature 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer workstations dock-to-dock in the plant and 15% faster assembly time, enabling a “lower cost of ownership over five years than a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y.”
These affordable EVs will be produced at scale, will be digitally advanced with over-the-air updates, and will come with continuous improvements. The use of Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic batteries will enable space, weight, and cost savings.
The Ford Universal EV Production System sees the automaker ditch a traditional assembly line, which consists of one long conveyor, and convert it into an “assembly tree” that spans three lines that run simultaneously and then join together.
This allows the company to replace dozens of smaller parts with large single-piece aluminum unicastings, assembling the front and rear of vehicles separately. Next, the entire vehicle is assembled using three parts—the front, rear, and middle—which serves as the housing for the battery.
The new design will enable more automation, optimize quality and cost, and reduce production costs. It will also facilitate a 15% speed improvement and 40% faster production time than what Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky currently offers.
The upgrades will be made to Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant, which will also be expanded by 52,000 square feet in order to move material more efficiently, and will come with a $2 billion investment. This adds to a previously announced $3 billion package earmarked for Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, which will build the prismatic LFP batteries for the midsize electric truck starting next year.
The combined investment of $5 billion is expected to create or secure nearly 4,000 direct jobs across the two plants—with Kentucky expected to see around 2,200 hourly jobs—and boost partnerships with dozens of new U.S.-based suppliers.
“We put our employees at the center and re-created the factory from scratch,” said Bryce Currie, Ford Vice President, Americas Manufacturing.
Revel, which began by renting out electric scooters in 2019 and evolved into a full-fledged ridesharing platform, has now shut down its ridesharing platform.
“We have made the difficult decision that the best way we can keep the EV transition moving forward is by ending our rideshare service and focusing on building the fast charging infrastructure our biggest cities need to keep going electric,” said Revel co-founder and CEO Frank Reig.
The company will sell or return the vehicles it operated in its fleet, which largely consisted of Tesla and Kia vehicles, and sell the 165 “for-hire vehicle license plates” attached to those vehicles, which could fetch between $20,000 and $25,000 per piece.
Instead, Revel will focus on its EV charging business, which currently includes at least five locations in New York that are under operation—including one at JFK Airport—and stations coming up in four around the area. Additionally, it operates one location in San Francisco, with four more coming up around the Bay area. It plans to operate “over 400” charging stations by the end of 2026.
While the company’s website didn’t host a press release or news release, it did blare a message that covered the entire screen, revealing the move—“Revel's Rideshare service has ended. Moving forward, Revel will continue to grow our Fast Charging business with more sites and cities opening soon. Updates to our website will be coming soon.”
Moreover, this pop-up pops up after clicking on any link on the website.
Revel’s new plan works well with the new directive issued by the Trump administration, which would enable states to distribute $5 billion in funding to enhance EV charging infrastructure, under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program—a move that took longer than expected to be expedited.
Indian electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette recently raised $21 million in an all-equity round led by Japanese electronics company TDK Corporation’s corporate venture arm, as well as existing investors Zoho Corporation and Lingotto (previously Exor Capital).
The move is expected to boost the company's ambition to enter new markets, which recently began offering its powerful bikes in 10 European countries, including the United Kingdom.
In addition to growing its presence in more European countries, Ultraviolette plans to ride into the United States, Japan, Latin America and Southeast Asia soon—and boost its product line from four bikes to 14 models by 2027 beginning.
“We asked ourselves, if we have to make electric exciting in two-wheelers, what would it take? And that’s the objective with which we started,” said CTO Niraj Rajmohan, one of the company's co-founders.
Along with CEO Narayan Subramaniam, the two took inspiration from Tesla and began producing electric motorcycles that could perform at par with 150cc to 800cc internal combustion engine sport bikes, in a market that predominantly saw low-speed bikes, designed around practical usage.
The company’s manufacturing and assembly line in Bengaluru, India, has a capacity of 30,000 units and plans to grow it to 60,000 units while also setting up another location capable of handling 300,000 units. Currently, it handles all included functions internally, including software used, battery manufacturing, R&D, and more.
In today’s digital age, almost all products are becoming digitalized. This includes vehicles, which are seeing the infusion of software for numerous functions. While these enhancements are designed to simplify not just in-vehicle processes but also supporting workflows—including pre-sales and post-sales service—sometimes, they backfire.
According to reports, security researcher Eaton Zveare from Harness, a software delivery company, found flaws in an automaker’s centralized web portal that could enable hackers to remotely unlock any customer's vehicle. They could also control some of the features from anywhere.
This is in addition to allowing them to track vehicles and exposing private, financial, and vehicle data.
Zveare didn’t name the automaker—and doesn’t plan to—but did mention that it was a popular company with numerous famous sub-brands.
Do you think the rampant digitalization of in-vehicle functions has caused more problems than offered solutions? Do you think Ford’s move will help it capture a stronger position in the EV market?
Let us know in the comments below!
This was later clarified by Elon Musk through a post on X, saying, “Once it became clear that all paths converged to AI6, I had to shut down Dojo and make some tough personnel choices, as Dojo 2 was now an evolutionary dead end. Dojo 3 arguably lives on in the form of a large number of AI6 SoCs on a single board.”
It’s believed the $16.5 billion deal with Samsung Electronics for AI chips may have played a pivotal role.
Either way, Tesla has been adjusting well to shifting tides, having taken key steps in its bid to deploy robotaxis, as well as other initiatives.
In the spirit of adjusting to shifting tides, renowned and pioneering carmaker Ford Motor Company has come up with a series of announcements that are set to revitalize its position in the automotive industry, especially in the electric vehicle (EV) segment.
Ford’s $5 Billion Plan
Ford Motor Company announced a series of “engineering and manufacturing” steps that it would be taking “to bring a new family of affordable, high-quality electric vehicles within reach for millions around the world.”
This includes the introduction of the new Ford Universal EV Platform and Ford Universal EV Production System—a move that builds on the company's 122-year history. It also takes inspiration from the 120-year-old Ford Model T, which became known as “Universal Car,” thanks to its affordable, adaptable, and serviceable characteristics.
Ford describes the Ford Universal EV Platform as “a new idea for a new era,” which is designed to deliver a simple, efficient, flexible ecosystem to deliver a family of affordable, electric, software-defined vehicles.”
As such, the first planned vehicle under the new platform will be a midsize, four-door electric pickup scheduled to be launched in 2027, with a targeted starting price of about $30,000.
“We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters – design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership—and do it with American workers,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley.
The Ford Universal EV Platform will reduce parts by 20%, feature 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer workstations dock-to-dock in the plant and 15% faster assembly time, enabling a “lower cost of ownership over five years than a three-year-old used Tesla Model Y.”
These affordable EVs will be produced at scale, will be digitally advanced with over-the-air updates, and will come with continuous improvements. The use of Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic batteries will enable space, weight, and cost savings.
The Ford Universal EV Production System sees the automaker ditch a traditional assembly line, which consists of one long conveyor, and convert it into an “assembly tree” that spans three lines that run simultaneously and then join together.
This allows the company to replace dozens of smaller parts with large single-piece aluminum unicastings, assembling the front and rear of vehicles separately. Next, the entire vehicle is assembled using three parts—the front, rear, and middle—which serves as the housing for the battery.
The new design will enable more automation, optimize quality and cost, and reduce production costs. It will also facilitate a 15% speed improvement and 40% faster production time than what Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky currently offers.
The upgrades will be made to Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant, which will also be expanded by 52,000 square feet in order to move material more efficiently, and will come with a $2 billion investment. This adds to a previously announced $3 billion package earmarked for Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, which will build the prismatic LFP batteries for the midsize electric truck starting next year.
The combined investment of $5 billion is expected to create or secure nearly 4,000 direct jobs across the two plants—with Kentucky expected to see around 2,200 hourly jobs—and boost partnerships with dozens of new U.S.-based suppliers.
“We put our employees at the center and re-created the factory from scratch,” said Bryce Currie, Ford Vice President, Americas Manufacturing.
Revel’s Ride-Hailing Pivot
Revel, which began by renting out electric scooters in 2019 and evolved into a full-fledged ridesharing platform, has now shut down its ridesharing platform.
“We have made the difficult decision that the best way we can keep the EV transition moving forward is by ending our rideshare service and focusing on building the fast charging infrastructure our biggest cities need to keep going electric,” said Revel co-founder and CEO Frank Reig.
The company will sell or return the vehicles it operated in its fleet, which largely consisted of Tesla and Kia vehicles, and sell the 165 “for-hire vehicle license plates” attached to those vehicles, which could fetch between $20,000 and $25,000 per piece.
Instead, Revel will focus on its EV charging business, which currently includes at least five locations in New York that are under operation—including one at JFK Airport—and stations coming up in four around the area. Additionally, it operates one location in San Francisco, with four more coming up around the Bay area. It plans to operate “over 400” charging stations by the end of 2026.
While the company’s website didn’t host a press release or news release, it did blare a message that covered the entire screen, revealing the move—“Revel's Rideshare service has ended. Moving forward, Revel will continue to grow our Fast Charging business with more sites and cities opening soon. Updates to our website will be coming soon.”
Moreover, this pop-up pops up after clicking on any link on the website.
Revel’s new plan works well with the new directive issued by the Trump administration, which would enable states to distribute $5 billion in funding to enhance EV charging infrastructure, under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program—a move that took longer than expected to be expedited.
Ultraviolette’s TDK Funding
Indian electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette recently raised $21 million in an all-equity round led by Japanese electronics company TDK Corporation’s corporate venture arm, as well as existing investors Zoho Corporation and Lingotto (previously Exor Capital).
The move is expected to boost the company's ambition to enter new markets, which recently began offering its powerful bikes in 10 European countries, including the United Kingdom.
In addition to growing its presence in more European countries, Ultraviolette plans to ride into the United States, Japan, Latin America and Southeast Asia soon—and boost its product line from four bikes to 14 models by 2027 beginning.
“We asked ourselves, if we have to make electric exciting in two-wheelers, what would it take? And that’s the objective with which we started,” said CTO Niraj Rajmohan, one of the company's co-founders.
Along with CEO Narayan Subramaniam, the two took inspiration from Tesla and began producing electric motorcycles that could perform at par with 150cc to 800cc internal combustion engine sport bikes, in a market that predominantly saw low-speed bikes, designed around practical usage.
The company’s manufacturing and assembly line in Bengaluru, India, has a capacity of 30,000 units and plans to grow it to 60,000 units while also setting up another location capable of handling 300,000 units. Currently, it handles all included functions internally, including software used, battery manufacturing, R&D, and more.
Remote Unlocking Flaw
In today’s digital age, almost all products are becoming digitalized. This includes vehicles, which are seeing the infusion of software for numerous functions. While these enhancements are designed to simplify not just in-vehicle processes but also supporting workflows—including pre-sales and post-sales service—sometimes, they backfire.
According to reports, security researcher Eaton Zveare from Harness, a software delivery company, found flaws in an automaker’s centralized web portal that could enable hackers to remotely unlock any customer's vehicle. They could also control some of the features from anywhere.
This is in addition to allowing them to track vehicles and exposing private, financial, and vehicle data.
Zveare didn’t name the automaker—and doesn’t plan to—but did mention that it was a popular company with numerous famous sub-brands.
Do you think the rampant digitalization of in-vehicle functions has caused more problems than offered solutions? Do you think Ford’s move will help it capture a stronger position in the EV market?
Let us know in the comments below!
First published on Tue, Aug 12, 2025
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