It no longer needs to be referred to simply as Ford’s affordable electric pickup, because the previously unnamed vehicle now has an official identity: the Ford Fathom. Ford has also confirmed the truck’s starting price as of Thursday. The entry-level Fathom is priced at $29,945, including the $1595 destination charge. That means the Blue Oval has stayed in line with its original promise of delivering a $30,000 electric pickup.

A few more details have emerged alongside the announcement of the name and price. To begin with, that sub-$30K figure applies to a Fathom fitted with the “standard-range battery.” This indicates that a longer-range battery option will also be available at an additional cost, for buyers who need more driving range than the standard version is expected to provide.

The Fathom is also said to offer “more passenger volume” than a Toyota RAV4, which suggests it should provide ample rear-seat space for those intending to use it as a family vehicle. BlueCruise, Ford’s semi-autonomous driving assistance system, will not be standard, but every Fathom will come with the required hardware to activate it. Presumably, Ford will make it available on subscription for customers who want hands-free driving capability. By combining that with Apple Maps as the vehicle’s native navigation system, Ford says it can deliver deeper integration for a “more seamless on-ramp to off-ramp experience.”

Other notable features mentioned include bi-directional charging capability and a digital car key function. Ford also says the truck will get a high-resolution touchscreen, although it has not disclosed the size of the display.

If you were curious about why Ford selected “Fathom” as the name for this pickup, the company has provided an explanation. “The word Fathom itself has the layered quality we wanted,” wrote Kay Hart, general manager of Ford Model E. “Long before it meant depth, fathom described the span of a person's outstretched arms, roughly six feet. Sailors borrowed that span to measure water they couldn't see the bottom of. And eventually the word came to mean something else entirely: to understand a thing completely.”

“A name about measuring what you can't see, that grew into a word about understanding,” Hart continued. “For a truck that started with years of trying to understand a specific customer, that was the whole brief in six letters.”

Production of the Fathom is due to start at Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant in 2027, while pre-orders will open early next year. The first customer deliveries are scheduled for “later in 2027.”