Ford makes massive bet on electric vehicles
Washington, Sep 28 (EFE).- Ford Motor Co. announced Tuesday its largest-ever investment in electric vehicles: a $11.4 joint venture with South Korea’s SK Innovation to build a pair of vast manufacturing complexes in the United States that will employ some 11,000 people.
The US automaker, which previously said it expected to spend $30 billion in the next five years on the transition to electric vehicles, will put up $7 billion for the plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.
By 2030, Ford aims for electric vehicles to account for between 40 percent and 50 percent of its global output.
“This is a transformative moment where Ford will lead America’s transition to electric vehicles and usher in a new era of clean, carbon-neutral manufacturing,” Executive Chair Bill Ford, the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, said.
To be known as Blue Oval City, the Tennessee complex will be home to a battery factory and an assembly plant for electric versions of Ford’s F-series pickup trucks.
The site, covering 14.5 sq km (5.6 sq mi), will also include space for parts suppliers in line with Ford’s idea of vertically integrated manufacturing to reduce costs and the environmental impact of the process.
The Kentucky installation, BlueOvalSK Battery Park, is to be devoted entirely to production of batteries for electric vehicles.
“This is our moment – our biggest investment ever – to help build a better future for America,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “We are moving now to deliver breakthrough electric vehicles for the many rather than the few.” EFE jcr/dr
