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The Ploopy Knob is an open-source control dial for your PC

The Ploopy Knob is an open-source control dial for your PC

Tech-news , ,

Ploopy has announced another desktop accessory called the Ploopy Knob that can function like a control dial for adjusting volume, scrolling documents, or scrubbing through media on a computer. The Canadian company isn’t exactly a household name like Logitech, but Ploopy’s open-source peripherals offer a lot of customizability, and like its mouse and trackballs, you can customize the look of the Knob by 3D-printing your own hardware.

The Ploopy Knob is available now through the company’s website for $49.99 CAD (around $37). Unlike many of the company’s other products, which can be purchased as cheaper DIY kits you build yourself, the Knob is only available as a fully assembled product with software preinstalled that works right out of the box. However, since it’s open-source, you can download all the design files and software on Ploopy’s GitHub page if you want to source the parts and build your own from scratch.

Powered by a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller, the Ploopy Knob uses a position sensor with a 12-bit resolution and a polling rate of over 1kHz to track its rotational movements. The company says the Knob supports high-resolution pixel-by-pixel scrolling on Windows and Linux, but warns that the experience may not be as smooth on Apple computers. “macOS does smoothing for input devices automatically. This interferes with the code that runs on the Knob, meaning that pixel-by-pixel high-resolution scrolling doesn’t work on macOS. It still functions as a scrolling device, but the scrolling is in discrete steps.”

As with the company’s other peripherals, the Ploopy Knob uses the open-source QMK firmware, which runs entirely on the device so you don’t need to install additional software on your computer.

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On Bumble, the app that started with the ethos of “women making the first move,” men will now be able to message first, according to the company’s latest earnings call.

“Now, for the first time on Bumble, by default, anyone will be able to send only one single opening message, and the conversation does not progress until the recipient responds,” Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said on yesterday’s earnings call for Q2 2026.

SEE ALSO: The 9 best free dating apps that literally cost $0 to sign up and use

No more “women make the first move”

Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 as the feminist response to Tinder, of which she was also a part of the founding team. Originally, in heterosexual matches, only women could message first. But the app has been trending away from that for some time, as two years ago it launched “Opening Moves,” a way for men to technically message first by responding to a prompt on a woman’s profile. (The app has since sunset Opening Moves in Australia and Mexico, though.)

Hookup apps for everyone

AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections

Tinder — top pick for finding hookups

Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups

Products available for purchase through affiliate links. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Additionally, Bumble is also extending the time limit to respond to the first message, from 24 to 72 hours. “We are also addressing another major complaint that existed from our members,” Wolfe Herd said.

In tests, Bumble users saw increases in chat initiations and mutual chat rates. The new rules will roll out globally by the end of this month, Wolfe Herd said.

Both real-life and AI on Bumble

Wolfe Herd also announced that Bumble will be leaning more into real-life experiences. “I am a firm believer that the future of meeting people in groups will become more important,” she said, and confirmed that Plans, a rumored event-curation feature, is coming as a standalone app.

At the same time, Bumble is planning to integrate AI more. As Mashable reported in May, Bumble is getting rid of the swipe, but Wolfe Herd clarified yesterday that the app’s upcoming AI dating assistant, Bee, isn’t replacing it.

“Let me be clear: Bee is not replacing the swipe. We are not aiming for an AI-driven experience. Bee is simply the intelligence under the hood,” she said.

“What will replace the swipe, I will be keeping under wraps a bit longer for competitive purposes,” she said. “But it is designed to generate more immediate interactions, and most importantly, better outcomes, mimicking real life and eliminating the friction and delay that exists in current dating app models.” Early feedback has been positive for Gen Z and millennial women and men, she continued.

Bee will apparently have an important role in how the new Bumble experience will be delivered, “but never degrading the human-first approach that we will always adhere to,” according to Wolfe Herd.

Even more changes coming to Bumble

When Wolfe Herd first announced Bee in March 2026, she said that the app was developing a new tech stack (the set of technologies that build an app), with a targeted launch of the second quarter of this year. But yesterday, she said that due to a data migration delay, it’s been delayed. New features, like profile and onboarding updates and more compelling ways to meet people IRL, are coming in early 2027, she said.

She also said that the app will also make the free experience more compelling, like offering limited access to “Like You,” a usually-paid feature where users can see who’s already liked them.

The app is re-architecting subscriptions to be simpler, and is planning on releasing a higher subscription tier designed for “mutual serious intent.”

This news comes as Bumble’s total revenue and paying users continued to decline in Q2 (15.2 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively, compared to Q2 of 2025). In June, Reuters reported that Bumble is considering a sale. Its announcement that it’s killing the swipe upset some users, and it remains to be seen how they will react to all of these additional changes.

#Men #message #Bumble">Men will soon be able to message first on Bumble On Bumble, the app that started with the ethos of “women making the first move,” men will now be able to message first, according to the company’s latest earnings call. “Now, for the first time on Bumble, by default, anyone will be able to send only one single opening message, and the conversation does not progress until the recipient responds,” Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said on yesterday’s earnings call for Q2 2026. SEE ALSO: The 9 best free dating apps that literally cost alt=

Bumble, the app that started with the ethos of “women making the first move,” men will now be able to message first, according to the company’s latest earnings call.

“Now, for the first time on Bumble, by default, anyone will be able to send only one single opening message, and the conversation does not progress until the recipient responds,” Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said on yesterday’s earnings call for Q2 2026.

SEE ALSO: The 9 best free dating apps that literally cost $0 to sign up and use

No more “women make the first move”

Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 as the feminist response to Tinder, of which she was also a part of the founding team. Originally, in heterosexual matches, only women could message first. But the app has been trending away from that for some time, as two years ago it launched “Opening Moves,” a way for men to technically message first by responding to a prompt on a woman’s profile. (The app has since sunset Opening Moves in Australia and Mexico, though.)

Hookup apps for everyone

AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections

Tinder — top pick for finding hookups

Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups

Products available for purchase through affiliate links. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Additionally, Bumble is also extending the time limit to respond to the first message, from 24 to 72 hours. “We are also addressing another major complaint that existed from our members,” Wolfe Herd said.

In tests, Bumble users saw increases in chat initiations and mutual chat rates. The new rules will roll out globally by the end of this month, Wolfe Herd said.

Both real-life and AI on Bumble

Wolfe Herd also announced that Bumble will be leaning more into real-life experiences. “I am a firm believer that the future of meeting people in groups will become more important,” she said, and confirmed that Plans, a rumored event-curation feature, is coming as a standalone app.

At the same time, Bumble is planning to integrate AI more. As Mashable reported in May, Bumble is getting rid of the swipe, but Wolfe Herd clarified yesterday that the app’s upcoming AI dating assistant, Bee, isn’t replacing it.

“Let me be clear: Bee is not replacing the swipe. We are not aiming for an AI-driven experience. Bee is simply the intelligence under the hood,” she said.

“What will replace the swipe, I will be keeping under wraps a bit longer for competitive purposes,” she said. “But it is designed to generate more immediate interactions, and most importantly, better outcomes, mimicking real life and eliminating the friction and delay that exists in current dating app models.” Early feedback has been positive for Gen Z and millennial women and men, she continued.

Bee will apparently have an important role in how the new Bumble experience will be delivered, “but never degrading the human-first approach that we will always adhere to,” according to Wolfe Herd.

Even more changes coming to Bumble

When Wolfe Herd first announced Bee in March 2026, she said that the app was developing a new tech stack (the set of technologies that build an app), with a targeted launch of the second quarter of this year. But yesterday, she said that due to a data migration delay, it’s been delayed. New features, like profile and onboarding updates and more compelling ways to meet people IRL, are coming in early 2027, she said.

She also said that the app will also make the free experience more compelling, like offering limited access to “Like You,” a usually-paid feature where users can see who’s already liked them.

The app is re-architecting subscriptions to be simpler, and is planning on releasing a higher subscription tier designed for “mutual serious intent.”

This news comes as Bumble’s total revenue and paying users continued to decline in Q2 (15.2 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively, compared to Q2 of 2025). In June, Reuters reported that Bumble is considering a sale. Its announcement that it’s killing the swipe upset some users, and it remains to be seen how they will react to all of these additional changes.

#Men #message #Bumble">Men will soon be able to message first on Bumble

On Bumble, the app that started with the ethos of “women making the first move,” men will now be able to message first, according to the company’s latest earnings call.

“Now, for the first time on Bumble, by default, anyone will be able to send only one single opening message, and the conversation does not progress until the recipient responds,” Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said on yesterday’s earnings call for Q2 2026.

SEE ALSO: The 9 best free dating apps that literally cost $0 to sign up and use

No more “women make the first move”

Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 as the feminist response to Tinder, of which she was also a part of the founding team. Originally, in heterosexual matches, only women could message first. But the app has been trending away from that for some time, as two years ago it launched “Opening Moves,” a way for men to technically message first by responding to a prompt on a woman’s profile. (The app has since sunset Opening Moves in Australia and Mexico, though.)

Hookup apps for everyone

AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections

Tinder — top pick for finding hookups

Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups

Products available for purchase through affiliate links. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Additionally, Bumble is also extending the time limit to respond to the first message, from 24 to 72 hours. “We are also addressing another major complaint that existed from our members,” Wolfe Herd said.

In tests, Bumble users saw increases in chat initiations and mutual chat rates. The new rules will roll out globally by the end of this month, Wolfe Herd said.

Both real-life and AI on Bumble

Wolfe Herd also announced that Bumble will be leaning more into real-life experiences. “I am a firm believer that the future of meeting people in groups will become more important,” she said, and confirmed that Plans, a rumored event-curation feature, is coming as a standalone app.

At the same time, Bumble is planning to integrate AI more. As Mashable reported in May, Bumble is getting rid of the swipe, but Wolfe Herd clarified yesterday that the app’s upcoming AI dating assistant, Bee, isn’t replacing it.

“Let me be clear: Bee is not replacing the swipe. We are not aiming for an AI-driven experience. Bee is simply the intelligence under the hood,” she said.

“What will replace the swipe, I will be keeping under wraps a bit longer for competitive purposes,” she said. “But it is designed to generate more immediate interactions, and most importantly, better outcomes, mimicking real life and eliminating the friction and delay that exists in current dating app models.” Early feedback has been positive for Gen Z and millennial women and men, she continued.

Bee will apparently have an important role in how the new Bumble experience will be delivered, “but never degrading the human-first approach that we will always adhere to,” according to Wolfe Herd.

Even more changes coming to Bumble

When Wolfe Herd first announced Bee in March 2026, she said that the app was developing a new tech stack (the set of technologies that build an app), with a targeted launch of the second quarter of this year. But yesterday, she said that due to a data migration delay, it’s been delayed. New features, like profile and onboarding updates and more compelling ways to meet people IRL, are coming in early 2027, she said.

She also said that the app will also make the free experience more compelling, like offering limited access to “Like You,” a usually-paid feature where users can see who’s already liked them.

The app is re-architecting subscriptions to be simpler, and is planning on releasing a higher subscription tier designed for “mutual serious intent.”

This news comes as Bumble’s total revenue and paying users continued to decline in Q2 (15.2 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively, compared to Q2 of 2025). In June, Reuters reported that Bumble is considering a sale. Its announcement that it’s killing the swipe upset some users, and it remains to be seen how they will react to all of these additional changes.

#Men #message #Bumble
Apple bumped up its trade-in offers for iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and certain Android phones, with some devices now worth over $100 more, 9to5Mac reports. The Mac Studio’s trade-in value increased the most, going up by $260. While some devices’ offers are unchanged, most got an increase of around $5 to $20, with a few seeing an increase of over $100:

Additionally, Apple is now offering trade-in credit for a handful of new Android devices:

While some new Android phones have been added to the list, Apple lowered its trade-in credit for a few others, including:

The higher trade-in credits on most devices follow a wave of price hikes Apple announced earlier this year, with increases ranging from $30 to $4,200. Apple also launched a new “Upgrade” leasing program last month aimed at making its increasingly-pricey devices easier to afford.

#Apple #increases #tradein #offers #adds #Android #devicesApple,iPad,iPhone,News,Tech">Apple increases trade-in offers and adds new Android devicesApple bumped up its trade-in offers for iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and certain Android phones, with some devices now worth over 0 more, 9to5Mac reports. The Mac Studio’s trade-in value increased the most, going up by 0. While some devices’ offers are unchanged, most got an increase of around to , with a few seeing an increase of over 0:Additionally, Apple is now offering trade-in credit for a handful of new Android devices:While some new Android phones have been added to the list, Apple lowered its trade-in credit for a few others, including:The higher trade-in credits on most devices follow a wave of price hikes Apple announced earlier this year, with increases ranging from to ,200. Apple also launched a new “Upgrade” leasing program last month aimed at making its increasingly-pricey devices easier to afford.#Apple #increases #tradein #offers #adds #Android #devicesApple,iPad,iPhone,News,Tech

trade-in offers for iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and certain Android phones, with some devices now worth over $100 more, 9to5Mac reports. The Mac Studio’s trade-in value increased the most, going up by $260. While some devices’ offers are unchanged, most got an increase of around $5 to $20, with a few seeing an increase of over $100:

Additionally, Apple is now offering trade-in credit for a handful of new Android devices:

While some new Android phones have been added to the list, Apple lowered its trade-in credit for a few others, including:

The higher trade-in credits on most devices follow a wave of price hikes Apple announced earlier this year, with increases ranging from $30 to $4,200. Apple also launched a new “Upgrade” leasing program last month aimed at making its increasingly-pricey devices easier to afford.

#Apple #increases #tradein #offers #adds #Android #devicesApple,iPad,iPhone,News,Tech">Apple increases trade-in offers and adds new Android devices

Apple bumped up its trade-in offers for iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and certain Android phones, with some devices now worth over $100 more, 9to5Mac reports. The Mac Studio’s trade-in value increased the most, going up by $260. While some devices’ offers are unchanged, most got an increase of around $5 to $20, with a few seeing an increase of over $100:

Additionally, Apple is now offering trade-in credit for a handful of new Android devices:

While some new Android phones have been added to the list, Apple lowered its trade-in credit for a few others, including:

The higher trade-in credits on most devices follow a wave of price hikes Apple announced earlier this year, with increases ranging from $30 to $4,200. Apple also launched a new “Upgrade” leasing program last month aimed at making its increasingly-pricey devices easier to afford.

#Apple #increases #tradein #offers #adds #Android #devicesApple,iPad,iPhone,News,Tech
Ford’s next-generation electric truck will be called Fathom, and it will start at $28,350 when it goes on sale in 2027, the company said on Thursday.

A “destination and delivery” fee will bring that price up to $29,945, putting the Fathom just below the $30,000 mark that Ford has targeted since it first started talking more openly about the project in 2025.

The truck, when it arrives next year, represents a major bet for Ford. It’s the automaker’s second all-electric truck after the F-150 Lightning (third, if you count the limited-run Ranger EV from the late 1990s). But like many of its peers, the company has dramatically pulled back on its once-ambitious plans to build electric vehicles.

The Fathom is the first vehicle Ford is building on its new “Universal EV Platform,” or UEV, which will power a number of different EVs and involves a brand-new assembly line process meant to cut costs. It’s an attempt by CEO Jim Farley to try and catch up to category leader Tesla, as well as the many Chinese EVs that he’s argued against allowing into the U.S. market — all while building the truck in Louisville, Kentucky.

Deliveries begin in “fall 2027,” and Ford said on Thursday that it won’t reveal the truck until “early 2027,” which is when it will start taking pre-orders.

We do have some details, though. Ford has already said the Fathom will have Apple Maps built into its operating system, and on Thursday, the company said the truck will support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Notably, it will not support Apple’s next-generation CarPlay Ultra.

The Fathom will have five seats, which is more interior space than a Toyota Rav4; a “large, high-resolution touch screen,” and a “digital car key.” It will be capable of bidirectional power, much like the Lightning and the hybrid F-150.

Every Fathom will also be “BlueCruise-capable,” meaning it will come with the tech integrated, but buyers will likely have to pay extra to enable Ford’s hands-free advanced driver assistance system. The truck is supposed to have a newer, more powerful version of BlueCruise that Ford says will eventually be capable of handling supervised driving from starting point to destination. Eyes-off driving is expected in 2028.

The Fathom’s starting price also only includes the “standard range” lithium iron phosphate battery pack. Ford hasn’t yet said how many miles the truck can drive on a single charge.

Ford said the name represents “a deep understanding of the person who would drive” the truck, and how their “motivations look a little different from the traditional truck customer’s.”

“[T]he name had to do more than sound good. It had to capture a mindset, shifting the focus from specs to a spirit of adaptability,” the company wrote.

Electric trucks have not done terribly well in the U.S.. The Lightning only moved a little more than 10,000 units in its best quarter, and though Tesla’s Cybertruck had a higher peak, it has since crashed out.

Ford is gambling by choosing the truck form factor for its first UEV platform vehicle. But there are some inherent upsides: The Fathom and other vehicles built on the platform will be the first that Ford has designed from the ground up to use electric powertrains. That should mean fewer tradeoffs on range, efficiency, and overall packaging of the vehicle.

Both the Fathom and UEV have been in the works for a few years. It started as a skunkworks project that Farley tasked former Tesla exec Alan Clarke with leading, as TechCrunch first reported in 2024. The team is flush with talent from Rivian, Tesla and Apple’s now-defunct car project, and has purportedly been working in isolation in Los Angeles, separated from the bureaucracy of the rest of the company.

All of this likely contributed to getting the Fathom’s starting price to just under $30,000, a major accomplishment in a market where the average new car costs $50,000. The truck won’t have a lot of competition in that range — it’s essentially going up against just the spartan, Jeff Bezos-backed Slate pickup, and a few non-truck EVs like the Chevy Bolt.

Ford has found a ton of success with its small, low-cost Maverick pickup, which comes in both internal combustion and hybrid powertrain variants. The Fathom is an attempt to bottle that lightning, without going the way of the Lightning.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Fords #electric #truck #Fathom #starts #TechCrunchelectric trucks,EVs,Ford">Ford’s new electric truck, ‘Fathom’, starts at ,350 | TechCrunch Ford’s next-generation electric truck will be called Fathom, and it will start at ,350 when it goes on sale in 2027, the company said on Thursday. A “destination and delivery” fee will bring that price up to ,945, putting the Fathom just below the ,000 mark that Ford has targeted since it first started talking more openly about the project in 2025. The truck, when it arrives next year, represents a major bet for Ford. It’s the automaker’s second all-electric truck after the F-150 Lightning (third, if you count the limited-run Ranger EV from the late 1990s). But like many of its peers, the company has dramatically pulled back on its once-ambitious plans to build electric vehicles. The Fathom is the first vehicle Ford is building on its new “Universal EV Platform,” or UEV, which will power a number of different EVs and involves a brand-new assembly line process meant to cut costs. It’s an attempt by CEO Jim Farley to try and catch up to category leader Tesla, as well as the many Chinese EVs that he’s argued against allowing into the U.S. market — all while building the truck in Louisville, Kentucky. Deliveries begin in “fall 2027,” and Ford said on Thursday that it won’t reveal the truck until “early 2027,” which is when it will start taking pre-orders. We do have some details, though. Ford has already said the Fathom will have Apple Maps built into its operating system, and on Thursday, the company said the truck will support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Notably, it will not support Apple’s next-generation CarPlay Ultra. The Fathom will have five seats, which is more interior space than a Toyota Rav4; a “large, high-resolution touch screen,” and a “digital car key.” It will be capable of bidirectional power, much like the Lightning and the hybrid F-150. Every Fathom will also be “BlueCruise-capable,” meaning it will come with the tech integrated, but buyers will likely have to pay extra to enable Ford’s hands-free advanced driver assistance system. The truck is supposed to have a newer, more powerful version of BlueCruise that Ford says will eventually be capable of handling supervised driving from starting point to destination. Eyes-off driving is expected in 2028. The Fathom’s starting price also only includes the “standard range” lithium iron phosphate battery pack. Ford hasn’t yet said how many miles the truck can drive on a single charge. Ford said the name represents “a deep understanding of the person who would drive” the truck, and how their “motivations look a little different from the traditional truck customer’s.” “[T]he name had to do more than sound good. It had to capture a mindset, shifting the focus from specs to a spirit of adaptability,” the company wrote. Electric trucks have not done terribly well in the U.S.. The Lightning only moved a little more than 10,000 units in its best quarter, and though Tesla’s Cybertruck had a higher peak, it has since crashed out. Ford is gambling by choosing the truck form factor for its first UEV platform vehicle. But there are some inherent upsides: The Fathom and other vehicles built on the platform will be the first that Ford has designed from the ground up to use electric powertrains. That should mean fewer tradeoffs on range, efficiency, and overall packaging of the vehicle. Both the Fathom and UEV have been in the works for a few years. It started as a skunkworks project that Farley tasked former Tesla exec Alan Clarke with leading, as TechCrunch first reported in 2024. The team is flush with talent from Rivian, Tesla and Apple’s now-defunct car project, and has purportedly been working in isolation in Los Angeles, separated from the bureaucracy of the rest of the company. All of this likely contributed to getting the Fathom’s starting price to just under ,000, a major accomplishment in a market where the average new car costs ,000. The truck won’t have a lot of competition in that range — it’s essentially going up against just the spartan, Jeff Bezos-backed Slate pickup, and a few non-truck EVs like the Chevy Bolt. Ford has found a ton of success with its small, low-cost Maverick pickup, which comes in both internal combustion and hybrid powertrain variants. The Fathom is an attempt to bottle that lightning, without going the way of the Lightning. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Fords #electric #truck #Fathom #starts #TechCrunchelectric trucks,EVs,Ford

talking more openly about the project in 2025.

The truck, when it arrives next year, represents a major bet for Ford. It’s the automaker’s second all-electric truck after the F-150 Lightning (third, if you count the limited-run Ranger EV from the late 1990s). But like many of its peers, the company has dramatically pulled back on its once-ambitious plans to build electric vehicles.

The Fathom is the first vehicle Ford is building on its new “Universal EV Platform,” or UEV, which will power a number of different EVs and involves a brand-new assembly line process meant to cut costs. It’s an attempt by CEO Jim Farley to try and catch up to category leader Tesla, as well as the many Chinese EVs that he’s argued against allowing into the U.S. market — all while building the truck in Louisville, Kentucky.

Deliveries begin in “fall 2027,” and Ford said on Thursday that it won’t reveal the truck until “early 2027,” which is when it will start taking pre-orders.

We do have some details, though. Ford has already said the Fathom will have Apple Maps built into its operating system, and on Thursday, the company said the truck will support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Notably, it will not support Apple’s next-generation CarPlay Ultra.

The Fathom will have five seats, which is more interior space than a Toyota Rav4; a “large, high-resolution touch screen,” and a “digital car key.” It will be capable of bidirectional power, much like the Lightning and the hybrid F-150.

Every Fathom will also be “BlueCruise-capable,” meaning it will come with the tech integrated, but buyers will likely have to pay extra to enable Ford’s hands-free advanced driver assistance system. The truck is supposed to have a newer, more powerful version of BlueCruise that Ford says will eventually be capable of handling supervised driving from starting point to destination. Eyes-off driving is expected in 2028.

The Fathom’s starting price also only includes the “standard range” lithium iron phosphate battery pack. Ford hasn’t yet said how many miles the truck can drive on a single charge.

Ford said the name represents “a deep understanding of the person who would drive” the truck, and how their “motivations look a little different from the traditional truck customer’s.”

“[T]he name had to do more than sound good. It had to capture a mindset, shifting the focus from specs to a spirit of adaptability,” the company wrote.

Electric trucks have not done terribly well in the U.S.. The Lightning only moved a little more than 10,000 units in its best quarter, and though Tesla’s Cybertruck had a higher peak, it has since crashed out.

Ford is gambling by choosing the truck form factor for its first UEV platform vehicle. But there are some inherent upsides: The Fathom and other vehicles built on the platform will be the first that Ford has designed from the ground up to use electric powertrains. That should mean fewer tradeoffs on range, efficiency, and overall packaging of the vehicle.

Both the Fathom and UEV have been in the works for a few years. It started as a skunkworks project that Farley tasked former Tesla exec Alan Clarke with leading, as TechCrunch first reported in 2024. The team is flush with talent from Rivian, Tesla and Apple’s now-defunct car project, and has purportedly been working in isolation in Los Angeles, separated from the bureaucracy of the rest of the company.

All of this likely contributed to getting the Fathom’s starting price to just under $30,000, a major accomplishment in a market where the average new car costs $50,000. The truck won’t have a lot of competition in that range — it’s essentially going up against just the spartan, Jeff Bezos-backed Slate pickup, and a few non-truck EVs like the Chevy Bolt.

Ford has found a ton of success with its small, low-cost Maverick pickup, which comes in both internal combustion and hybrid powertrain variants. The Fathom is an attempt to bottle that lightning, without going the way of the Lightning.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Fords #electric #truck #Fathom #starts #TechCrunchelectric trucks,EVs,Ford">Ford’s new electric truck, ‘Fathom’, starts at $28,350 | TechCrunch

Ford’s next-generation electric truck will be called Fathom, and it will start at $28,350 when it goes on sale in 2027, the company said on Thursday.

A “destination and delivery” fee will bring that price up to $29,945, putting the Fathom just below the $30,000 mark that Ford has targeted since it first started talking more openly about the project in 2025.

The truck, when it arrives next year, represents a major bet for Ford. It’s the automaker’s second all-electric truck after the F-150 Lightning (third, if you count the limited-run Ranger EV from the late 1990s). But like many of its peers, the company has dramatically pulled back on its once-ambitious plans to build electric vehicles.

The Fathom is the first vehicle Ford is building on its new “Universal EV Platform,” or UEV, which will power a number of different EVs and involves a brand-new assembly line process meant to cut costs. It’s an attempt by CEO Jim Farley to try and catch up to category leader Tesla, as well as the many Chinese EVs that he’s argued against allowing into the U.S. market — all while building the truck in Louisville, Kentucky.

Deliveries begin in “fall 2027,” and Ford said on Thursday that it won’t reveal the truck until “early 2027,” which is when it will start taking pre-orders.

We do have some details, though. Ford has already said the Fathom will have Apple Maps built into its operating system, and on Thursday, the company said the truck will support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Notably, it will not support Apple’s next-generation CarPlay Ultra.

The Fathom will have five seats, which is more interior space than a Toyota Rav4; a “large, high-resolution touch screen,” and a “digital car key.” It will be capable of bidirectional power, much like the Lightning and the hybrid F-150.

Every Fathom will also be “BlueCruise-capable,” meaning it will come with the tech integrated, but buyers will likely have to pay extra to enable Ford’s hands-free advanced driver assistance system. The truck is supposed to have a newer, more powerful version of BlueCruise that Ford says will eventually be capable of handling supervised driving from starting point to destination. Eyes-off driving is expected in 2028.

The Fathom’s starting price also only includes the “standard range” lithium iron phosphate battery pack. Ford hasn’t yet said how many miles the truck can drive on a single charge.

Ford said the name represents “a deep understanding of the person who would drive” the truck, and how their “motivations look a little different from the traditional truck customer’s.”

“[T]he name had to do more than sound good. It had to capture a mindset, shifting the focus from specs to a spirit of adaptability,” the company wrote.

Electric trucks have not done terribly well in the U.S.. The Lightning only moved a little more than 10,000 units in its best quarter, and though Tesla’s Cybertruck had a higher peak, it has since crashed out.

Ford is gambling by choosing the truck form factor for its first UEV platform vehicle. But there are some inherent upsides: The Fathom and other vehicles built on the platform will be the first that Ford has designed from the ground up to use electric powertrains. That should mean fewer tradeoffs on range, efficiency, and overall packaging of the vehicle.

Both the Fathom and UEV have been in the works for a few years. It started as a skunkworks project that Farley tasked former Tesla exec Alan Clarke with leading, as TechCrunch first reported in 2024. The team is flush with talent from Rivian, Tesla and Apple’s now-defunct car project, and has purportedly been working in isolation in Los Angeles, separated from the bureaucracy of the rest of the company.

All of this likely contributed to getting the Fathom’s starting price to just under $30,000, a major accomplishment in a market where the average new car costs $50,000. The truck won’t have a lot of competition in that range — it’s essentially going up against just the spartan, Jeff Bezos-backed Slate pickup, and a few non-truck EVs like the Chevy Bolt.

Ford has found a ton of success with its small, low-cost Maverick pickup, which comes in both internal combustion and hybrid powertrain variants. The Fathom is an attempt to bottle that lightning, without going the way of the Lightning.

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