Ford’s ‘Modern Model T’ May Be Heading to the EV Scrapyard

Summary

WSJ Tech News Briefing

Episode: Ford’s ‘Modern Model T’ May Be Heading to the EV Scrapyard
Date: November 7, 2025
Host: Katie Dayton
Guests: Jackie Snow (WSJ Contributor), Sharon Terlap (WSJ Reporter)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores two key topics transforming the tech landscape:

1. Swarm Robotics: WSJ contributor Jackie Snow discusses the emerging world of robot swarms—networks of robots working together to accomplish tasks more efficiently than isolated units, delving into both the possibilities and the public’s anxieties.
2. Ford’s F-150 Lightning and the Future of EVs: Reporter Sharon Terlap examines industry rumors that Ford may discontinue its flagship electric pickup—the F-150 Lightning—potentially marking a major turning point in the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) market and signaling broader industry challenges.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

I. Swarm Robotics: Promise & Perception

Public Fears vs. Practical Promise

• The concept often invokes dystopian sci-fi fears, but researchers focus on practical, beneficial uses.
• Example applications: medical micro-robots, environmental monitoring, fire detection and response.
  • Jackie Snow (01:31):

    “A lot of the use cases that we're looking at for swarm robotics would make the world potentially better… using teeny tiny robots… to go into your body and potentially clear out clogged arteries. Having swarms [of] robots monitoring forests… [for] early fire detection…”

How Robot Swarms Differ from Traditional Robotics

• Traditional multi-robot systems: Heavily human-controlled, works up to around 10 units.

• Swarm robotics: Self-organized communication; beyond a certain scale, only broad human goals are set, individual tasks are coordinated autonomously.

  • Jackie Snow (03:10):

    “What's different… is there's a lot more human control, which is fine and really useful. But once you start to get past maybe 10 robots, a human can't really orchestrate that effectively. … Those [swarms] are able to achieve tasks that a human… wouldn't be able to do.”

Real-World Status and Future Potential

• No commercial-scale swarms yet, but prototypes are imminent.

• Vision: Swarms may include both tiny micro-bots and larger coordinated drone fleets. These don’t always manifest as a visible group—could appear as lone units distributed over large areas.

  • Jackie Snow (04:38):

    “Although so much of this is around tiny robots, they could be larger robots… we could start to see drone delivery… done by swarms, which would be able to potentially take larger packages…”

Notable Quotes

• Jackie Snow (01:31):

  “There's no Terminator-like [scenario] right now for swarm robotics that serious roboticists are working on.”

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II. Ford F-150 Lightning: A Symbolic Casualty in the EV Market?

Initial Success and Shifting Fortunes

• The F-150 Lightning launched to strong reviews; even received a high-profile endorsement and test drive from President Biden.
  • Sharon Terlap (07:07):

    “It was a hot seller at first. It got great reviews. President Biden came and drove it and talked about how fast it was… So out of the gate it did really well.”

• But: As the initial hype settled, real-world usage revealed key limitations.

Obstacles: Range, Weather, and Infrastructure

• Early adopters were tech enthusiasts, but the broader market—working truck owners, rural users—experienced reduced range in cold weather and under heavy load.

  • Sharon Terlap (07:31):

    “When you started to get to people who relied on the truck for long commutes and hauling loads... with the Lightning... when they're in really cold weather, when they're towing or carrying heavy loads, that battery range just isn't the same. It's reduced.”

• Chargers are plentiful in urban areas but scarce in rural and suburban settings, making EV adoption less practical for many.

Industry-wide Struggles

• Not just Ford: GM’s lineup of large electric vehicles (Hummer, Silverado, GMC pickup, Escalade SUV) faces similarly sluggish sales—“hundreds” sold in a month, compared to the “hundreds of thousands” typical of the industry.

  • Sharon Terlap (09:13):

    “GM especially sells hundreds of thousands of cars a month, these cars, they're selling hundreds. … They're really struggling with very, very slow sales.”

Regulatory and Market Shifts

• Changing governmental regulations and falling demand mean manufacturers are rethinking strategies and scaling back EV ambitions.

• The death of the Lightning, if confirmed, would mark the first major EV “casualty” and a possible turning point after years of aggressive expansion.

  • Sharon Terlap (08:35):

    “It’ll be the first major vehicle to vanish under the changes that have happened so rapidly… It would really signal that this is a turning point…”

The Future of EVs

• The consensus is not that EVs are doomed, but growth will be much slower than anticipated—expect smaller, more affordable models, not massive trucks.

  • Sharon Terlap (09:57):

    “I don’t think there’s anyone saying EVs are just going away… EV growth is going to be much slower… and… not going to be these very big trucks. It’s going to be smaller, more affordable cars.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jackie Snow, on sci-fi fears vs. reality (01:31):

  “I feel like this is maybe one of the most tried and true… scary science fiction story… But a lot of the use cases… would make the world potentially better…”

• Sharon Terlap, on Ford’s turning point (08:35):

  “It'll be the first major vehicle to vanish under the changes that have happened so rapidly this year…”

• Sharon Terlap, on the reality of EV sales (09:13):

  “These cars, they're selling hundreds. Not even thousands… So they're really struggling…”

• Sharon Terlap, on the future of EV adoption (09:57):

  “What we're hearing a lot of is EV growth is going to be much slower. So it's going to be more of a creep as opposed to this explosive growth…”

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Swarm Robotics segment: 00:19 – 05:34

  • Dystopian fear vs. reality: 00:19 – 01:31
  • Medical applications: 02:12 – 02:20
  • Difference from traditional robotics: 03:03 – 03:53
  • Commercial readiness: 04:07 – 04:33

• Ford F-150 Lightning & the EV Market: 06:32 – 10:23

  • Early success and Biden’s endorsement: 07:07 – 07:25
  • Why sales slumped: 07:31 – 08:28
  • Industry implications: 08:28 – 08:35
  • Industry-wide context (GM): 09:13 – 09:48
  • Broader EV outlook: 09:57 – 10:23

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Summary Takeaway

• Swarm Robotics is entering the public imagination, poised to transform fields ranging from healthcare to logistics, despite their portrayal in sci-fi as something to fear.
• The Ford F-150 Lightning’s uncertain fate illustrates the real, complex challenges facing EV adoption in the U.S.—namely, technical limitations, inadequate infrastructure, shifting regulations, and cooling consumer demand for large electric trucks.
• The future of EVs is not extinction, but recalibration: think fewer massive trucks, more practical and affordable cars, and a steadier pace of adoption.

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For listeners: This episode provides a nuanced look at tech optimism and realism—from robot swarms that could save lives to the sobering reality of America’s stalling electric vehicle revolution.

Transcript

[Paul Testa]

Digital transformation is revolutionizing how patients interact with the healthcare system. Join NYU Langone Health at the break to hear from Dr. Paul A. Testa, the organization's chief health Informatics officer, about how innovation is improving the patient experience.

[Katie Dayton]

Welcome to Tech News briefing. It's Friday, November 7th. I'm Katie Dayton for the Wall Street Journal. If you're apprehensive about the AI revolution, just wait until you hear about robot swar. Researchers are working on teaching machines to work together like ant colonies and achieve more than solo robots ever could. We'll be hearing about why there's actually a lot to love about this very dystopian sounding idea. Then we're driving over to Ford, which according to people familiar with the matter, is an act of discussions to kill the F150 lightning, the electric version of its popular pickup truck. The decision would make the lightning America's first major EV casualty and put a dent in the country's electric revolution. But first, we're talking about swarm robotics. That's the idea that a group of robots, from a few to a few thousand, can work together without a centralized controller. WSJ contributor Jackie Snow has been investigating how that science might show up in everyday life. Jackie, I have to say the term robot swarm fills me with dread. Should I be worried that the robots are banding together? No.

[Jackie Snow]

And I know, I feel like this is also maybe one of the most tried and true science fiction stories. A scary science fiction story, like multiple robots coming at you like some scary flock of birds. But a lot of the use cases that we're looking at for swarm robotics would make the world potentially better place. Using teeny tiny robots, nanorobots, to go into your body and potentially clear out clogged arteries. Having swarms robots monitoring forests, so if a fire breaks out, it can be detected early and put out, so communities are in danger. So there's no terminator like right now for swarm robotics that serious roboticists are working on.

[Katie Dayton]

Got it. And you just mentioned there micro robots that can go inside your body. That sounds like a fascinating case. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

[Jackie Snow]

Yeah, that is an area that there's a lot of research on because there's lots of parts of our body that are hard to get into and there's potentially easier ways to access them with robots. So different roboticists are working on either micro robots, which are small enough to get into some of our bigger veins and arteries to potentially clear it, or even smaller, that can cross over blood barriers that require much smaller robots and they can deliver medication, clear out problems, even go in and maybe just do checks in the future to see how the body is going. So it's a future where you swallow some robots and then they are made of biodegradable material, and once they're done, they are absorbed into your body like any other thing.

[Katie Dayton]

Generally speaking, what can these robot swarms do that quote, unquote, traditional robots can't?

[Jackie Snow]

Yeah. So multi robot systems right now are something that exists that a lot of warehouses use, where multiple robots work together to achieve a task. And what's different there is there's a lot more human control, which is fine and really useful. But once you start to get past maybe 10 robots, a human can't really orchestrate that effectively. So the robots that are communicating together, whereas, like, that might just be them sensing each other to know, like, how far apart they are, those are able to achieve tasks that a human trying to handle dozens of robots wouldn't be able to do. So it really opens up more use cases where a lot of robots would be helpful.

[Katie Dayton]

And to take a step back, are these groups of robots programmed or controlled any differently?

[Jackie Snow]

Yeah, robot swarms are still usually having a human saying, like, the goal is to go monitor this area forest and report if you see anything. But how that's done is not controlled by a human.

[Katie Dayton]

Do we have any examples of swarm robotics occurring in the real world right now?

[Jackie Snow]

Not yet. The roboticists I talked to think it's just a matter of time with the next few years, where we start to see at least prototypes of different robot swarms going out. But it is going to be probably multiple years before we start to see that being done in a way that is commercially viable or even beyond something that's just a prototype or a trial.

[Katie Dayton]

And how do researchers think this technology could develop even further?

[Jackie Snow]

One of the interesting things I heard was, although so much of this is around tiny robots, they could be larger robots, which, as an example, in the story, someone mentioned that we could start to see drone delivery, which is something that Amazon is already working on, but they're doing that single robots. But that also could be done by swarms, which would be able to potentially take larger packages because there's more robots. And the other thing I found really interesting was a swarm doesn't necessarily need to look like a giant flock of birds. A swarm could be robots where if an individual looks up, they only see a single robot in the sky. But if you had, like a satellite view, you'd be like, oh, there's actually dozens around this forest. They're not super close together. So this could be something that is not super invasive seeming. It is just a solo robot to a single person, but it's multiple robots actually like working together over a larger space.

[Katie Dayton]

That was WSJ contributor Jackie Snow. What do you think about the coming robot swarms? If you're a listener on Spotify, let us know in this episode's poll. Coming up, how the fate of one Ford pickup truck model tells the story of America's bumpy EV revolution. That's after the break.

[Paul Testa]

One way AI is transforming the patient experience is through what's known as ambient documentation technology. NYU Langone's chief health Informatics officer, Paul Testa explains.

If we have a conversation, the system can create the note by simply listening. But then it is, I think you probably should come back to me in four weeks unless these three things happen. That's where the ambient gets really cool. So it's going to queue up orders, it executes referrals. That's all doable today.

[Katie Dayton]

This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Ford is thinking of sunsetting the lightning, its electric pickup, once described by the company as a modern Model T. Ford has said the production of the lightning is currently paused because of an unrelated supply chain issue. But does the move signal the beginning of the end for big EV trucks? Other models are struggling with sales, and automakers throughout the country are scrapping plans to make new ones. WSJ reporter Sharon Terlap has the story. Sharon, how well did the lightning sell when it first rolled off the production line and in the years following?

[Sharon Terlap]

It was a hot seller at first. It got great reviews. President Biden came and drove it and talked about how fast it was. Mr. President, this sucker's quick.

[Katie Dayton]

How's it drive?

[Sharon Terlap]

Would you buy one of these?

[Jackie Snow]

I would.

[Sharon Terlap]

So out of the gate it did really well.

[Katie Dayton]

And then what happened? What sort of issues or barriers were behind the decision that we're hearing about today?

[Sharon Terlap]

The Ford Lightning came down to earth kind of as the whole EV market came down to earth. You know, if you think about the early Teslas, these were people who were just really into this new technology. They were willing to deal with some inconveniences or some potential glitches. And certainly there were those people who bought the truck at first. But then when you started to get to people who relied on the truck for long commutes and hauling loads, the reality was with the lightning and also generally with these vehicles when they're in really cold weather, when they're towing or carrying heavy loads, that battery range just isn't the same. It's reduced. And also, if you think about where there are chargers and where you charge a vehicle, those are plentiful in urban areas. But when you get out to the country and even more into some of the suburbs in the middle of the country, it's just not as easy to find a charger for your vehicle.

[Katie Dayton]

If Ford does decide to kill the lightning, how much of a big deal is this among the watchers of the EV industry?

[Sharon Terlap]

It'll be the first major vehicle to vanish under the changes that have happened so rapidly this year when it comes to regulations that were compelling automakers to make EVs. So the regulations are one issue, and then the falling demand is another issue. And it would really kind of signal that this is a turning point where for a while we were getting more and more and more of these vehicles. And that's, you know, now it's starting to go in the other direction.

[Katie Dayton]

And obviously, this isn't just a Ford problem. Right? Other carmakers, automakers are struggling to shift EVs too. Can you talk us through a little bit of the other companies that are having similar issues?

[Sharon Terlap]

General Motors is having similarly weak sales of its big trucks. And whereas ford has the F150 Lightning, GM came out with a string of cars. They have a Hummer pickup and a Silverado pickup and a GMC pickup and an Escalade suv. And in an industry where these companies, GM especially sells hundreds of thousands of cars a month, these cars, they're selling hundreds. They sold hundreds last month. Not even thousands. Definitely not hundreds of thousands. So they're really struggling with very, very slow sales.

[Katie Dayton]

With the slow sales, with everything that's happening in the White House and in Congress, what could all of this mean for the future of the EV revolution?

[Sharon Terlap]

I don't think there's anyone saying EVs are just going away and nobody's going to drive them. You know, what we're hearing a lot of is EV growth is going to be much slower. So it's going to be more of a creep as opposed to this explosive growth. And that the EVs people buy are not, at least in the near term, going to be these very big trucks. It's going to be smaller, more affordable cars that aren't these massive investments.

[Katie Dayton]

That was WSJ reporter Sharon Talip. And that's it for Tech News Briefing. If you listen to the show on Spotify, be sure to answer this episode's poll. Today's show was produced by Julie Chang. I'm your host. Katy Dayton, Jessica Fenton and Michael Lavalle wrote our theme music. Our supervising producer is Katie Ferguson. Jessica Fenton is our technical manager. Our development producer is Ayesha Al Mauslim. Chris Sinsley is the deputy editor and Philana Patterson is the Wall Street Journal's head of News Audio. We'll be back later this morning with TMB Tech Minute. Thanks for listening.

[Paul Testa]

For patients, the benefits of healthcare innovation can be felt in even the basic task of making a doctor's appointment. Here again is NYU Langone's Paul Testa.

What we are seeing now is these tools are helping patients understand what their first, next best step is in their care journey. If we can make sure we have a right match with the right surgeon for the right problem and the right patient in the right location, all that coordination is a digital matrix that we are doing now.

To learn more about healthcare innovation at NYU Langone Health, Please visit NYU langone.org Custom content from WSJ is a unit of the Wall Street Journal Advertising Department. The Wall Street Journal News Organization was not involved in the creation of this content.