Ford officially has broken ground at BlueOval City in Stanton, Tennessee, which is set to become the largest, most advanced auto production complex in the company’s 119-year history.
The $5.6 billion investment was announced in September 2021, and it includes an all-new vehicle factory as well as a lithium-ion battery cell gigafactory (43 GWh annually), which is a joint venture with SK Innovation's SK On.
It's a massive new project, which lays the foundation to achieve a 2 million electric vehicle annual run rate globally by late 2026.
Ford also underlines that already it has become the No.2 electric vehicle brand in the US through August and based on August 2022 total sales.
"Structural steel is erected less than one year after Ford and SK On announced their $5.6 billion investment to build a revolutionary all-new electric truck and advanced batteries for future Ford and Lincoln vehicles in West Tennessee. The nearly 6-square-mile mega campus will create approximately 6,000 new jobs when production begins in 2025."
Ford has reaffirmed its previous targets to open the new site in 2025 and produce "an all-new, revolutionary electric truck."
Nothing is known about this new electric pickup, besides the fact that it will be an additional model (on top of the Ford F-150 Lightning) and it will belong to the full-size segment (just like the F-150), based on a new platform.
Blue Oval City in brief:
- Stanton, west Tennessee
- investment: $5.6 billion
- a 3,600-acre campus covering nearly 6 square miles
- 6,000 jobs
- Production (from 2025):
- next-generation electric F-Series pickups
- BlueOvalSK joint venture: advanced batteries (43 GWh annaully) for Ford and Lincoln EVs
BlueOval City Construction by the Numbers:
Significant progress has been made since March, when Ford and its construction partners began preparing the land for construction.
- Crews have moved more than 4.6 million cubic yards of soil, enough to fill approximately 34,500 backyard swimming pools
- Nearly 370,000 tons of stone have been laid, the weight of more than 1,600 Statues of Liberty
- More than 4,600 deep foundations installed, totaling the height of approximately 176 Eiffel Towers when put end to end
Beside Tennessee, Ford and SK Innovation's SK On are also investing about $5.8 billion in the BlueOvalSK Battery Park in Kentucky, where two 43 GWh gigafactories to be built (86 GWh annually total).
BlueOvalSK Battery Park in brief:
- Glendale, central Kentucky
- investment: $5.8 billion
- a 1,500-acre campus
- 5,000 jobs
- Production (from 2025):
- BlueOvalSK joint venture: two 43 GWh plants (total of 86 GWh annually)
With those three gigafactories (129 GWh annually) and contracts for batteries from SK On's plant in Georgia, Ford and SK On have become strategic partners to each other.
But let's not forget that, globally, Ford is partnering with various suppliers. The main question will be who will become the supplier of LFP batteries in North America.
