Ford To Begin Massive Production of Electric Vehicles And Batteries in the U.S.

Ford has just partnered with SK Innovation, a South Korean manufacturer, and will be spending a combined $11.4 billion to build new factories for the production of its electric vehicles (EVs), as well as the batteries that will power them. The new factories, which are located in Tennessee and Kentucky of the U.S., will be the first new manufacturing sites that Ford is building completely from scratch in more than 50 years.

According to reports, the Tennessee site will be a “mega campus” which will have a vehicle-production unit for the Ford F-series pickup trucks being produced, and another unit for the assembly of batteries. Whereas, the Kentucky factory will only be manufacturing lithium-ion batteries.

Ford Really Means Business

Although the facilities will not be operating fully until 2025, Ford CEO, Jim Farley says the investment only goes to show how seriously the company feels about EVs. The Tennessee factory for instance, has a nine square miles size, making it the biggest factory ever built in Ford’s 118 years history, Farley boasted.

Ford’s latest move follows after the likes of Tesla and others in the auto industry, who are also gradually shifting their attention towards EVs. It also comes at a time when the auto industry is struggling with unending proposals to outrightly ban the sale of gas cars in foreign markets and even in some states in the U.S. like California.

Farley has said that EVs are now exactly at the place where smartphones were in 2007. And he’s full of optimism for what the future holds concerning the production and use of these electric vehicles.

Presently, Ford sources its batteries from SK Innovation. But you will recall, that SK Innovation recently lost a trade secret dispute with rival LG Chem that could cause problems, if Ford is to keep importing to the US. And so, the two companies recently reached an agreement that could avert a possible import ban. Therefore, Ford will be making its own batteries in the U.S.,  in a bid to avoid issues that may arise from sourcing the  batteries overseas.