The Escape is back from the dead, and Ford just plugged it in
The compact crossover is dead. Long live the Escape EV — internally codenamed U833, rolling out of Louisville in 2029 on Ford’s brand-new Universal EV Platform.
Nobody saw this coming — at least, not quite like this. The Ford Escape, a compact crossover that was rolling off the assembly line in familiar shape just months ago, is getting reborn. And not as a light facelift or a half-hearted hybrid revamp. It’s coming back fully electric. According to Ford Authority, the new Escape will hit the Louisville Assembly Plant in 2029. Inside the company, the project carries the codename U833.
A quick refresher: production of the Escape and the Lincoln Corsair wrapped in December 2025. After that, the plant was shut down for a deep retooling to build Ford’s next generation of EVs. The upcoming Escape EV will be the second vehicle on the all-new Universal EV Platform. The first — arriving earlier, in 2027 — will be a midsize electric pickup truck from Ford.
And here’s where it gets interesting. The platform isn’t designed for a single model. It’s a universal base meant to underpin crossovers, pickups, vans and other EVs. CEO Jim Farley has called it Ford’s “Model T moment” — an attempt to finally make electric cars genuinely affordable, with low cost of ownership. Whether the bet pays off, we’ll find out soon enough.
Earlier, it was reported that Ford patented a U-turn system for commercial vehicles.