Ford announced a record-breaking investment in electric vehicle (EV) production in the United States, pledging to build the largest ever auto plant in Tennessee and two battery industrial parks in Kentucky.
Under a $ 11.4 billion investment plan, Ford will produce zero-emission cars and pickups “on a large scale” for US customers. The proposed investment will create 11,000 jobs.
Like its rivals GM and Stellantis, Ford hopes that by 2030 about half of the cars it sells will be zero-emission.
However, the additional public investment required for this is still in question.
“This is our moment — our biggest investment in history — to help build a better future for America,” said Jim Farley, President and CEO of Ford, in a statement. “We are now moving towards delivering revolutionary electric vehicles to the many, not the few.”
Ford has announced that its plant in Tennessee, dubbed Blue Oval City, will cover an area of 6 square miles and will produce next-generation electric pickups and batteries from 2025.
Ford has already ramped up investments in electric vehicle production at its Texas and Michigan plants. He announced that he will make new investments in partnership with SK Innovation, a South Korean battery manufacturer.
With the exception of a few large metropolitan areas, EVs are still not very common in the US, and last year the country accounted for just 2% of new EV sales globally.
The Biden administration hopes to change that with tighter regulations on exhaust emissions from 2026 and billions of dollars in spending on new charging points and consumer incentives.
