Universal Ford EV Production System Could Spread To Other Plants

Ford officially announced its universal EV platform roughly one month ago, a new architecture that will eventually underpin a variety of future EVs – including, to start, a mid-size pickup built at the Louisville Assembly plant, which is set to undergo a major retooling later this year to prepare it for exactly that. The chief focus of this new platform is to drive down complexity and costs, all while making it scalable across multiple body styles, using a unique process. Thus, as one might assume, that same production system could one day spread to other plants.

When asked about that particular possibility, Bryce Currie, Ford vice president of Americas manufacturing, didn’t quite rule it out. “We are focused on Louisville Assembly plant first and making this project a success. Then we’ll determine how to take these learnings into our global manufacturing operations. We can test and learn at the leading edge, while we continue to run and refine the proven processes we’ve honed over 122 years.”

This new universal Ford EV production system transforms the traditional assembly line into an “assembly tree” – rather than utilizing one, long conveyer, it employs three subassemblies running down their own lines at the same time, which then join together. Dozens of smaller parts are replaced with large, single-piece aluminum unicastings, with the front and rear of vehicles assembled separately, then mated to a third sub-assembly, the battery pack, seats, consoles, and carpeting. Workers on the assembly tree receive parts via kits, which contain all of the power tools, scanners, and fasteners needed to complete the job.

According to Ford, the assembly tree will result in a production process at the Louisville Assembly plant that could be up to 40 percent faster than existing methods, though some of that time savings will be reinvested in automation and insourcing – which means that speed improvements will total around 15 percent, ultimately. Thus, it stands to reason that the same process could be used in other plants one day, perhaps even assembling things like ICE and EREV vehicles in addition to pure EVs.