Ford to Invest Nearly $2 Billion in Kentucky EV Assembly Plant
Ford Motor Co. will spend almost $2 billion to revamp its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, turning the several-decades-old factory into a state-of-the-art electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing complex. The plant, which has been making gasoline-powered cars for approximately 70 years, will be reconfigured to produce a midsize electric pickup truck under way in 2027 with an estimated base price of around $30,000.
One of the key features of the upgrade is the addition of a revolutionary “assembly tree” manufacturing process. The system will differ from the conventional single conveyor line in that there are three parallel sub-assembly lines that will merge into one final assembly location. The new method is intended to make production 15% more efficient, decrease parts by 20%, and need fewer fasteners—making the process more efficient and decreasing costs.
Ford officials have called this shift a possible “Model T moment”, an overture to its goal of changing the way it makes cars and putting affordable, American-built electric vehicles on sale, head-to-head with Chinese EV manufacturers and other foreign competitors.
The investment will also protect and generate jobs. The 2,200 employees at the Louisville plant will be preserved, and new jobs will be created in Ford’s EV supply chain. Alongside its new Michigan battery plant jobs, the project will create support for nearly 4,000 jobs.
This strategic step puts Ford on a position to compete fiercely in the low-cost EV market, with advanced manufacturing to become profitable and supply mass-market electric vehicles capable of satisfying increasing U.S. demand for cleaner, less expensive transportation alternatives.
