Earlier today, Ford unveiled its new, universal EV platform, which will underpin a variety of future models, starting with a mid-size pickup. That vehicle will be produced at the Louisville Assembly plant starting in 2027, using a production process that’s quite a lot different – and far more efficient – than what that facility leans on today. As one might imagine, that sort of radical shift calls for a major investment, and when the Louisville Assembly plant closes later this year for retooling, that’s precisely what’s going to happen.
In fact, Ford will invest a whopping $2 billion in the Louisville Assembly plant to prepare it for the production of its new mid-size EV pickup, a project that’s being supported with an incentive offer from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority. That money is in addition to the $3 billion that Ford has invested in BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, which is set to build the lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries used in the forthcoming mid-size EV pickup starting next year. As for the pickup itself, that’s slated to launch in 2027.
As part of this process, the Louisville Assembly plant will expand by 52,000 additional square feet, which will enable materials to move more efficiently. Ford will also give the facility a variety of digital infrastructure upgrades that will reportedly result in it having the fastest network with the most access points of any Ford plant across the entire globe – enabling more quality scans. Louisville will lean on 2,200 hourly employees to build Ford’s new EV pickup, and together with BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, the company expects to create nearly 4,000 direct jobs.
“Today, Ford and Team Kentucky are introducing the world to the future of automotive production with nearly $2 billion being invested to transform the Louisville Assembly Plant, which will also secure 2,200 jobs for Kentuckians,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. “This announcement not only represents one of the largest investments on record in our state, it also boosts Kentucky’s position at the center of EV-related innovation and solidifies Louisville Assembly Plant as an important part of Ford’s future. Thanks to Ford’s leaders for their continued faith in Kentucky and our incredible workforce. Ford and Kentucky have been a tremendous team for more than 100 years, and that partnership has never been stronger than it is today.”
Comments
So I assume that’s the final kiss of death for the Escape and Corsair. But hey, another EV that no one can afford or want.
You are correct. With the Edge gone, next the Escape and the Corsair, I can’t see the EV sales replacing roughly 250K units lost from the discontinuation of popular models.
Crying that you can’t afford a new $30,000 car while crying that they’re taking away $30,000 and $40,000 cars 😂
If you think Ford is going to recoup their $2 billion investment by selling you a $30,000 vehicle you are smoking some good bud
Yup, another 6 billion wasted on the EV wish!
Good decisions on managements part, NOT!
Let’s kill vehicles that most customers will buy and build ones that very few customers will buy.
And these guys get paid millions to make these decisions!
Find me another EV pickup that costs 30k without incentives or credits. Actually find me any EV vehicle that isn’t the City-only Leaf.
The Model Y sold 400k in 2023 with a 45k cost- 38k after incentives. Ford is going to undercut that price point and value proposition massively.
I think it will do just fine. Even if it only stole EV sales from existing EV buyers, they could move 200k units. Especially once there is a SUV/crossover at the same price point.
More production capacity for vehicles that nobody wants.
Not only should Farley and Bill Ford get canned but the Board of Directors should be held accountable as well.
If only their focus was were it should be. On quality!
Absolutely right on.
Regardless of the above comments, I want an EV. Mach-e still in my sights, but might wait to see what else is offered.
The only one who seems to realize we’re competing with China is the Ford exec.
And he has made such BRILLIANT decisions in the past that we can absolutely trust him🙄
Spend $2 billion on a plant that makes some of your best selling vehicles to one that will be lucky to produce a third of what they are producing now. I hope the good folks at LAP will not miss their overtime.
Meanwhile you have the white elephant Blue Oval City and the wanted billions of dollars there sitting collecting dust. Why not put these EVs there and let Louisville continue to produce what they have been?
Cool! Another example of: “Pay more, get less, and expect hundreds of recalls” on a new vehicle! Sounds like a super plan to me! (Sarcasm and rolling eyes)
So many naysayers here. I will be reading your comments after gasoline prices ise so high that everyone will be scrambling to buy any EV and paying through the nose for it. I will be laughing after reading!
I don’t care how high gas gets. Jump in that EV and take the family on a trip. See how it is having to stop every 300 miles or so to find a charger and then sit around and wait while it charges. Hybrids are the way to go. Have a decent sized vehicle that can get around 40mpg and they will sell. Replacing the Escape with an EV is not going to be a good idea and I will be laughing.
This is from someone who has had a Mach-E for the past two years. I drive it to work once a week and around town and it has only ever been charged in my garage. I would never own one for the “family car” or if it was our only vehicle.
“Jump in that EV and take the family on a trip. See how it is having to stop every 300 miles or so”
Everyone put on your diapers and get in the car, we’ve got 600 miles to cover and we’re not stopping!
It only takes 10 minutes to stop at a rest stop or gas station. Assuming a charger was easily available, are you saying I can fully charge an EV in that same amount of time?
With DC fast charging you can get 200 miles of range in 15 minutes. That will improve with better battery tech and EV architecture.
Stopping an extra 5 minutes every three hours of driving isn’t a dealbreaker for the couple times a year you drive more than 300 miles in a day. Plug in, bathroom, food, and go.
You don’t need to charge in to 100% to get back on the road. There are a lot of myths on charging out there, and they are holdovers from how we use gas engines. You always fill a gas tank to full. That’s not how you should use EVs.
Charging time increases the higher the battery is. It takes as long to charge from 80-100 as it does to charge from 20-80. You only top an EV to 100 off when its at its destination, parked overnight.
That will only happen if Democrats take control of our political system again so we need to make sure that never happens again.
Amen brother!
Just a friendly reminder that Obama and Democrats saved the US auto industry from bankruptcy.
It started in December of 2008 while Bush was still in office. Not that that makes it any better.
Gas prices will be lower in 5 years than they are today. Watch!
I have worked at a Ford dealership for 32 years. I’m glad I’m very close to retirement, because with the current leadership I’m not sure Fords going to be around much longer. If they keep adding EV,s their customer base will continue to drop. They say they want to improve quality. At least they finished # 1 in recalls for this year. Farley has to go if they want some improvement.
The 2018 Ford Focus regular old simple gas car gets 40 mpg. I’ve had it for a year, low miles, runs great and cheap to purchase and run. What that tells me is that people don’t really care that much about efficiency.
EVs will have to be cheap, convienent and desirable to sell well as a new car. To me the EV is desirable but very inconvient given the state of our charging infrastructure, but the used ones are cheap. We will get there but we are not there yet but build a few, hopefully Ford will at least break even.
I am a Ford retiree and my Escape is 12 years old and when I replace it I would want to replace it with another ICE Escape and if I can’t, I will look to other manufacturers.
Jim Farley has bet the ranch on this project. I don’t see a midsize BEV pickup selling well unless he gets government entities buying them. I wouldn’t bet on Jim being CEO in 2 to 3 years.
People who are arguing EV vs ICE are missing the point. This is about what sells versus what isn’t and won’t. The EV market is stable at about 10% of total sales industry-wide, and it is saturated with offerings. Low-cost will help with product interest, perhaps, but cannot translate into revenue and profit.
Despite not leading the segment, Escape is a 250,000 per-year generator of both revenue and profit for Ford. Farley & Co. are betting the company by replacing that work horse in the mid-size crossover segment, representing nearly 21% of annual industry sales, with a product whose sales volume ceiling is half that. It’s bananas and will crater the company along with the jobs it supports.
I agree. I’m not opposed to EVs, but Ford seems to be letting their non-EV lineup wither and die.