Sept. 27, 2022—Construction has officially begun on Ford's new electric vehicle manufacturing plant.
According to Bloomberg, the BlueOval City complex is being built in western Tennessee. It is a facility that will span six square miles and will cost $5.6 billion to complete. BlueOval City will employ about 6,000 people overall to work on electric pickup trucks and electric vehicle batteries through a joint venture with SK Innovation, a South Korean battery partner.
Through this partnership, there are also plans for two battery factories in Kentucky. Those plants could employ an additional 5,000 people. According to Bloomberg, these actions will further Ford CEO Jim Farley's agenda of the automaker building 2 million electric vehicles annually by the end of 2026.
BlueOval City will also have a battery factory and will feature the first all-new assembly plant built by Ford since 1969. The batteries will be used in Ford and Lincoln EV models.