Ford Motor us move quickly into electric vehicle (EV) production to meet targets set by the new American President and also the changing market needs in Europe. To start, they are committing a further USD11 Billion investment to build new EV only factories in North America and this will give employment to more than 11,000 Americans.
However, there is not mention of the job losses at the factories that are currently producing petrol powered vehicles which will be phased out fo sure in coming years. For now, it is all about big investments and added jobs for a new generation of factory workers. No mention of older factory closures and the fate of the older generation vehicle workers.
Ford Motors CEO Jim Farley said it’s “show, not tell time,” while discussing plans to build two new mega sites in Kentucky and Tennessee that will ramp up electric vehicle production and create thousands of new jobs.
“We are going to hire 11,000 people, we are going to build the biggest plant we’ve ever built in the history of the company,” Farley said of the USD11.4 billion investments with SK Innovation during an interview on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday.
Ford will construct Blue Oval City which will be a massive, USD5.6 billion, 3,600-acre campus outside Memphis Tennessee, that will create 6,000 jobs and build the next-generation electric F-Series pickups and advanced batteries. The F-150 Lightning comes with 563 horsepower and 1051Nm of torque in its most powerful configuration. This is higher than any F-150 ever offered. Its maximum payload is anticipated to be in excess of 900kg and its towing capacity is rated at 4536kg. The maximum range is anticipated to be 300 miles or roughly 480km.
The automaker is also building a new USD5.8 billion battery manufacturing park in Kentucky to power a new lineup of Ford and Lincoln EVs.
The NYTIMES also mentioned that Ford and General Motors are racing to catch up to Tesla, which is on track to sell more than 800,000 electric cars this year. Tesla has become the most valuable automaker in the world by far, with a market capitalization of nearly USD800 billion. Ford’s market value is USD56 billion.
Meanwhile on Monday, techcrunch.com shared the announcement that follows a string of planned investments by Ford, including an injection of USD250 million and 450 new jobs to increase production capacity of its upcoming F-150 Lightning to 80,000 all-electric trucks annually. Those funds and jobs will be spread out across its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center and Rawsonville Components Plant, Ford said.
It is interesting to note that the above high investment comes on top of the USD30 billion the company previously said would go to electric vehicles through 2025, where about USD7 billion has already been invested before February this year.
Production at the plants, aside from one of the battery plants in Kentucky, is expected to begin in 2025, the company said. The second battery plant in Kentucky is expected to come online in 2026, according to Ford.
