Ford has produced more than 5,000 large aluminum "unicastings" for its Fathom midsize electric pickup at its Shelbyville Technical Center, the company said on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. Each Fathom uses two, front and rear, which Ford says replace 146 structural parts. The update came from Vladimir Bogachuk, Ford's chief engineer of advanced vehicle structure architecture, on Ford's From the Road blog.
How Ford makes them
- Melt and cast: aluminum ingots melt at about 1,300°F (700°C), and the metal is injected into a front or rear structure mold.
- Finish: a robot moves each casting to a quench tank, then it is trimmed and machined.
- Checks: industrial X-ray scans for pores and voids, dimensional measurements in a climate-controlled room, optical surface scans, and lab tensile and chemistry tests on samples. Batches stay on hold until they pass.
- Where they go: Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, for process testing and Fathom prototype builds.
Why it matters for Tesla watchers
Electrek calls it the clearest sign yet that Ford is all-in on the large-casting approach Tesla popularized with its Giga Press. Ford says the castings let it split a traditional assembly line into three branches that build sections of the truck in parallel. Ford also says the parts are "engineered for modular repairability," which addresses the main worry about big castings: repair costs after a crash.
The Fathom was priced at $28,350 before fees when preorder invites opened; see Ford opens Fathom preorder invites. Ford is still targeting a 2027 launch.
