Ford CEO says the next generation of EVs have a trick up their sleeve to help prevent assembly mistakes

The computer inside Ford's next generation EVs will have a job to do before customers ever get the keys.

"The vehicle diagnoses itself," he said during the interview, attended by Business Insider. "Most of our plants, with vision systems looking over people's shoulder to make sure they attach something right? We don't have that in UEV."

Ford isn't doing away with factory cameras and other external quality checks, a representative told Business Insider. Cameras will remain part of the assembly process.

That's a wildly different approach to vehicle manufacturing. Historically, car companies, including Ford, have relied on off-the-line inspections and scanners to check if connections are properly paired.

"The computer determines if the connections are done right, and tells the worker immediately," Farley said.

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Ford told BI that those external checks are not going away on UEV — but the internal verification will be new for the platform.

The company is showing some confidence that its newer vehicles are turning the issue around. In June, the company topped JD Power's initial quality study, and Ford said much of its improvement came after it hired a batch of engineers, including rehiring some experienced technical specialists.

The truck's Louisville plant will also move away from the company's traditional single-stream assembly line. Instead, three major sections of the truck will be built separately before being brought together in a central "marriage." Ford has dubbed the new approach an "assembly tree."

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