Ford Motor Company plans to make the largest investment in its history in U.S. manufacturing sites that would build the electric F-Series trucks and the batteries to power future electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles in an $11.4-billion partnership with its South Korean battery partner, SK Innovation.
Ford will invest $7 billion of the planned sum-its largest-ever manufacturing investment at one time by any automotive manufacturer in the U.S., the American automaker said in a statement.
The plan envisages the construction of a $5.6 billion production complex in Stanton, Tennessee, called Blue Oval City. The complex will build next-generation electric F-Series pickups and advanced batteries, creating around 6,000 new jobs, Ford said.
The carmaker also plans to build a dedicated battery manufacturing complex with SK Innovation-the $5.8 billion BlueOvalSK Battery Park-in Glendale in central Kentucky. Twin battery plants on the site are intended to supply Ford's North American assembly plants with locally assembled batteries for powering electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
Production at the sites is expected to begin in 2025.
"This is our moment - our biggest investment ever - to help build a better future for America," said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO.
"We are moving now to deliver breakthrough electric vehicles for the many rather than the few," Farley added.
Ford and the other two of Detroit's Big Three are accelerating EV plans in recent months, especially after U.S. President Joe Biden signed last month an executive order, setting a target to make 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States in 2030 zero-emission vehicles.
Ford Motor, General Motors, and Stellantis issued a joint statement on the Administration's goal, announcing their shared aspiration to achieve sales of 40-50 percent of annual U.S. volumes of electric vehicles (battery electric, fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid vehicles) by 2030 in order to move the nation closer to a zero-emissions future consistent with Paris climate goals.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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