Ford is betting that affordability will win out with its $30,000 EV pickup and is skipping all of that fancy truck stuff that most buyers won't use anyway.

Ford will invest $5 billion, including $2 billion at its Louisville, Kentucky factory on top of $3 billion already announced for its BlueOval battery plant. It will expand the Louisville facility by 52,000 square feet and "create or secure" nearly 4,000 direct jobs, Ford added.

When Ford introduced the Maverick compact pickup in 2021, it was an instant hit. The small truck's combination of a sub-$20,000 starting price, standard hybrid powertrain, and practical utility tapped into a huge untapped market.