Ford Begins Construction On $5.6B EV Factory In Tennessee
Ford Motor Co. has started construction on its largest-ever factory project: a $5.6B electric vehicle factory in Tennessee.
BlueOval City, as the 3,600-acre site is known, is expected to be completed by 2025 and bring 6,000 new workers to the town of Stanton, according to Bloomberg. The batteries manufactured are part of a joint venture with South Korean battery supplier SK Innovation.
“This facility is the blueprint for Ford’s future manufacturing facilities and will enable Ford to help lead America’s shift to electric vehicles,” Eric Grubb, Ford’s director of new footprint construction, said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Controversy has surrounded the project as the state's comptroller has moved forward with a financial takeover of the majority-Black town next door, Mason. The town was supposed to regain its independence at the end of August as part of an agreed-upon deadline, but the comptroller's office said it has extended its oversight of Mason's finances "indefinitely," Local Memphis reported Sept. 7.
The takeover came after the comptroller, Jason Mumpower, gave the town an ultimatum in February to either give up its 153-year-old charter or lose financial control. The town voted to retain its charter in March, and after Mumpower moved forward with the takeover, town leaders filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against him.
Critics believe the takeover is a way to gain the benefits the town would have received from the BlueOval City project. Ford officials said in March they were in talks with Mumpower about the takeover, the Tennessee Lookout reported.
Ford announced the plans for the project along with the development of three other factories in an $11B investment in September 2021. The factories are a part of Ford CEO Jim Farley's goal to build 2 million electric vehicles annually by 2026.
Farley said he expects half of Ford's sales to be battery-powered vehicles by 2030. Last year, the car manufacturer sold 27,140 EVs in the United States, according to Bloomberg.
Ford plans to build two other factories in central Kentucky that will total 1,500 acres. The $5.8B facilities will be the largest investment in the state, according to Gov. Andy Beshear in a press release about the facilities.
