Today, Ford announced a massive $5-billion investment in its American manufacturing facilities, with the promise of creating or securing over 4,000 jobs across the Louisville Assembly Plant and the BlueOval Battery Park in Michigan.
Part of that investment in US manufacturing included the announcement of an entirely new manufacturing strategy—CEO Jim Farley calls it the company’s "Model T moment." Kicking off at the automaker’s Louisville plant, the so-called “Ford Universal EV Production System” promises faster and more efficient production lines as the company continues to invest in electric vehicles.
Ford’s Chief Operating Officer, Kumar Galhotra, explains:
'The production system is going to be very different than our normal production system; instead of a linear assembly line, we’ll have three independent branches: The front, the rear, and the structural battery. So the battery itself is critical to the structure of the vehicle, and then all of these branches come together when we integrate the interior, seats, carpet, console, etc.
All of these branches run in parallel. So, imagine these three lines running in parallel and coming together at the end. It’ll be 40 percent faster than the present production build at Louisville… the net impact is a 15 percent speed improvement.'
That new manufacturing strategy starts with a $30,000 electric pickup, which the company promises to debut sometime in 2027. The truck will use "advanced" prismatic lithium iron phosphate batteries and promises to be as quick as an EcoBoost Mustang.
The battery technology itself will be completely free of cobalt and nickel, which Ford says will help save space, weight, and cost. The new technology will also reportedly improve the vehicle’s center of gravity, which will aid in handling and create a roomier cabin.
Ford’s Louisville Assembly Plant and BlueOval BatteryPark in Michigan will both see major changes in the next few years as the company gears up for production of the electric pickup.
