Ford Announces EV and Hybrid Program & Plant Updates

[Administrator]

Ford Updates EV, Hybrid Plans, Readies Manufacturing Plants

• Ford continues to invest in a broad set of EV programs as it works to build a full EV line-up. In parallel, Ford is expanding its hybrid electric vehicle offerings. By the end of the decade, the company expects to offer hybrid powertrains across its entire Ford Blue lineup in North America
• Equipment installation is underway at the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center assembly plant at BlueOval City, which aims to begin customer deliveries of Ford’s next-generation electric truck in 2026
• Expansion progresses at Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, to produce an all-new electric commercial vehicle for Ford Pro customers beginning mid-decade; construction progressing at BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, and BlueOval SK joint venture battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky
• Ford reiterates commitment to its Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant as the company retimes the launch of its all-new three-row electric vehicles to 2027
• Design work continues on future EVs, including a flexible small and affordable EV platform by a skunkworks team in California

DEARBORN, Mich., April 4, 2024 – Ford Motor Company said today it is retiming the launch of upcoming electric vehicles at its Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant while continuing to build out an advanced industrial system to produce its next-generation electric vehicles, including greenfield construction and conversion of existing assembly plants.

The company continues to invest in a broad set of EV programs as it works to build a full EV line-up. These initiatives support the development of a differentiated and profitably growing EV business over time while Ford serves customers with the right mix of gas, hybrid and electric vehicles based on demand today. In parallel, Ford is expanding its hybrid electric vehicle offerings. By the end of the decade, the company expects to offer hybrid powertrains across its entire Ford Blue lineup in North America. In the first quarter of 2024, Ford’s electric vehicle sales increased by 86% and hybrid sales rose 42% versus a year ago.

“As the No. 2 EV brand in the U.S. for the past two years, we are committed to scaling a profitable EV business, using capital wisely and bringing to market the right gas, hybrid and fully electric vehicles at the right time,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. “Our breakthrough, next-generation EVs will be new from the ground up and fully software enabled, with ever-improving digital experiences and a multitude of potential services.”

Assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario

The transformation of Oakville Assembly Plant – a comprehensive overhaul of the plant from a gas vehicle assembly plant into an EV manufacturing complex – is set to begin in the second quarter, as planned.

Preparations continue for the market launch of Ford’s all-new three-row electric vehicles at the assembly complex in Oakville, Ontario, which the company said it will re-time to 2027 from 2025. The additional time will allow for the consumer market for three-row EVs to further develop and enable Ford to take advantage of emerging battery technology, with the goal to provide customers increased durability and better value.

“We value our Canadian teammates and appreciate that this delay will have an impact on this excellent team,” Farley said. “We are fully committed to manufacturing in Canada and believe this decision will help us build a profitably growing business for the long term.”

The company will work with Unifor to mitigate the impact the launch delay will have on its workforce at Oakville.

“We are committed to taking care of our valued Oakville employees through this transition,” said Bev Goodman, president and CEO, Ford Canada. “While this change requires a revision to the timeline, it will support a viable and growing future for our company, employees and dealers.”

BlueOval City

The creation of the BlueOval City campus – Ford’s new advanced auto production complex that includes the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center assembly plant – is progressing on track. In addition to paint shop and vehicle assembly equipment, installation is also underway for nearly 4,000 tons of stamping equipment that will produce the sheet metal stampings for Ford’s next all-new electric truck.

Ford plans to begin customer deliveries of the new truck in 2026 and gradually ramp up production to help assure quality. The Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center will be Ford’s first Industry 4.0 plant, combining automation and connectivity to help elevate quality and efficiency.

Prospective employees can meet with Ford representatives at the new Ford Tennessee Discovery Center in Brownsville, Tenn., once it opens. The plant’s management team brings together strong leaders from around the world, including Ford veterans and talent from Tesla, Amazon, Meta, Toyota, FedEx and more. Community members also will be welcome to experience advanced manufacturing through virtual reality simulations at the Discovery Center.

Ohio Assembly Plant

Additionally, Ford continues its expansion of Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake to produce an all-new electric commercial vehicle for Ford Pro customers beginning mid-decade.

Half of the structural steel is erected on the site, interior slabs are being poured, concrete walls are going up and masonry is beginning on interior walls. Ford expects to begin tool installation at Ohio Assembly Plant in spring 2025.

Employees at the plant, like at other Ford manufacturing facilities, will use wearable technology to support high-quality and efficient manufacturing.

Future EVs

Design work continues on Ford’s future-generation EVs. A skunkworks team in California is developing a smaller, low-cost, profitable, flexible EV platform capable of underpinning multiple vehicles at high volumes. Alan Clarke leads the growing team, which includes personnel from Auto Motive Power (AMP) following Ford’s acquisition of the EV energy management startup in late 2023.

In the meantime, construction is progressing at BlueOval Battery Park Michigan, in Marshall, Mich., and at the BlueOval SK joint venture battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.

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[HoosierMachE]

Glad Ford is prioritizing American plants supported by union labor. Thanks, UAW, for making this a contractual condition of future EV manufacturing!

 

[Mach1E]

Glad Ford is prioritizing American plants supported by union labor. Thanks, UAW, for making this a contractual condition of future EV manufacturing!

I’m not glad.

I wish they could build cars without the high labor costs.

Maybe then they could actually sell EVs at a profit and they could have a future.

If they can’t sell cars at a profit, all those union workers will lose their jobs anyways when they shut the plant down.

Making it a contractual condition may just be shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I’m not glad.

I wish they could build cars without the high labor costs.

Maybe then they could actually sell EVs at a profit and they could have a future.

If they can’t sell cars at a profit, all those union workers will lose their jobs anyways when they shut the plant down.

Making it a contractual condition may just be shooting themselves in the foot.

So even when they make them in Mexico they lose their shirt. It’s not labor cost that’s the problem.

 

[HoosierMachE]

I’m not glad.

I wish they could build cars without the high labor costs.

Maybe then they could actually sell EVs at a profit and they could have a future.

If they can’t sell cars at a profit, all those union workers will lose their jobs anyways when they shut the plant down.

Making it a contractual condition may just be shooting themselves in the foot.

Reducing labor costs by undercutting union wages might lower EV prices in short-term, but it would cost the long-term health of the EV/auto industry and the economy. Good-paying union jobs not only ensures quality and worker satisfaction but also stimulates the local and national economies. Sacrificing worker welfare for immediate cost savings would just undermine the future of both Ford and its workers. This isn't even counting the environmental considerations and national security issues of using cheap Chinese labor. Sadly our Mach-E's are made in Mexico using cheap labor and the costs are still high compared to ICE vehicles. Labor is actually a pretty minor factor in the cost of current EVs, with commodities being the biggest driver.

Anyhow, I'll leave it to agree to disagree with you. Cheers.

 

[Jimrpa]

I think that part of the solution is to increase automation in manufacturing where possible and use humans in the roles where higher skills and the ability to make on-the-fly judgements are necessary. Of course, I have no background in, or knowledge of, large-scale, heavy-duty manufacturing so ?‍

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I think that part of the solution is to increase automation in manufacturing where possible and use humans in the roles where higher skills and the ability to make on-the-fly judgements are necessary. Of course, I have no background in, or knowledge of, large-scale, heavy-duty manufacturing so ?‍

I have. And you’re spot on. Tesla rewrote the game on how to build cars. Toyota is stunned how they got beat in their own game. GM recently acquired the machine shop that Tesla used to make dies for their Gigacastings. Both legacies feel inadequate from a production perspective that they need to use extreme measures to try and catch up.

I dislike Tesla a lot, but we have to give credit where / when due and be objective and self-critical. That’s the only way to win. Not blame it on the union!

 

[johnnycombo]

I’m not glad.

I wish they could build cars without the high labor costs.

Maybe then they could actually sell EVs at a profit and they could have a future.

If they can’t sell cars at a profit, all those union workers will lose their jobs anyways when they shut the plant down.

Making it a contractual condition may just be shooting themselves in the foot.

I just ran across this story the other day, it's about the non-union unregulated shrimp industry.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/indian...imp-us-grocery-stores-whistleblowe-rcna144082

 

[leeman]

I think Ford has made a good decision by splitting their businesses into 21 EV one gas powered EV's aren't for everyone and they certainly aren't what people think they are although I own both I think there's a place for both it's kind of like having a golf cart when you're going around your community it's just convenient for long trips gas vehicle is always better vehicles are still too heavy and the suspension components and other parts suffer from this because they have to keep the vehicles at a certain weight in order to form well I've looked at the suspension in my car I've noticed that it is almost flimsy including things like door hinges the door jams etc. they save wherever they can where the gas vehicles are very sturdy cars or beefy suspension components etc. amazing the differences between the two. Anyways I agree with the fact that they're building them in US where they belong they can have a much broader control of the product then they can if they're built in Mexico or some other country the world is too big to be building products and other countries for people at home.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I think Ford has made a good decision by splitting their businesses into 21 EV one gas powered EV's aren't for everyone and they certainly aren't what people think they are although I own both I think there's a place for both it's kind of like having a golf cart when you're going around your community it's just convenient for long trips gas vehicle is always better vehicles are still too heavy and the suspension components and other parts suffer from this because they have to keep the vehicles at a certain weight in order to form well I've looked at the suspension in my car I've noticed that it is almost flimsy including things like door hinges the door jams etc. they save wherever they can where the gas vehicles are very sturdy cars or beefy suspension components etc. amazing the differences between the two. Anyways I agree with the fact that they're building them in US where they belong they can have a much broader control of the product then they can if they're built in Mexico or some other country the world is too big to be building products and other countries for people at home.

Your Mache is built in Mexico.

 

[Jimrpa]

I have. And you’re spot on. Tesla rewrote the game on how to build cars. Toyota is stunned how they got beat in their own game. GM recently acquired the machine shop that Tesla used to make dies for their Gigacastings. Both legacies feel inadequate from a production perspective that they need to use extreme measures to try and catch up.

I dislike Tesla a lot, but we have to give credit where / when due and be objective and self-critical. That’s the only way to win. Not blame it on the union!

What I’m wondering is: what are the Chinese doing to get their crazy low prices? It can’t just be labor if they’re really going to open plants in Mexico to get into the US market.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

What I’m wondering is: what are the Chinese doing to get their crazy low prices? It can’t just be labor if they’re really going to open plants in Mexico to get into the US market.

You know it’s probably a combination of things. I don’t know, but will be heading there in a few weeks and will try and find out.

 

[Dear_OP]

EV mfg is different than traditional ICE. Vertical integration with legacy car mfg is pretty much non-existent. This is the secret sauce to <ugh> Tesla's success.
There was an article where Farley lamented about the 100s of shared partners and IP owners Ford had to go through in order to make some changes. This arrangement compounded the cost and speed of innovation.
Here is but a small example.

This is on-top of labour contracts and obligations that legacy makers have to contend with. Not sure how Tesla managed to dodge the union.

I feel EV resets car mfg in a profound way. As they say adapt or die.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

EV mfg is different than traditional ICE. Vertical integration with legacy car mfg is pretty much non-existent. This is the secret sauce to <ugh> Tesla's success.
There was an article where Farley lamented about the 100s of shared partners and IP owners Ford had to go through in order to make some changes. This arrangement compounded the cost and speed of innovation.
Here is but a small example.

This is on-top of labour contracts and obligations that legacy makers have to contend with. Not sure how Tesla managed to dodge the union.

I feel EV resets car mfg in a profound way. As they say adapt or die.

It’s a bit simpler than what you’re suggesting. Many of these line items are insignificant. Buying the seats won’t change the economics of the business or your level of competitiveness. The critical aspects that Tesla used to change the game were (not in order of importance):

1. Designing and making batteries
2. Software, including FSD
3. Gigacastings vs 70 loose body parts
4. Company stores vs shit ass dealers
5. Charging network

Companies prefer to deploy capital where it matters for strategic and / or economic reasons. Insurance is not one of them. Neither is solar panels. But Elon wanted to bail his cousin out.

At one point (when markets mature) Tesla will restructure and get rid of all non-core and look very similar to existing OEMs. Core has traditionally been body-in-white, engines, and transmissions. In the new environment, it’ll be biw, battery, software, and sales / service. No one gives a shit about seats. In fact, Tesla doesn’t make seats anymore.

 

[Mach1E]

So even when they make them in Mexico they lose their shirt. It’s not labor cost that’s the problem.

It’s not the only problem. But higher costs make it worse. Because math.

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