Avatar of the Rouge in Tennessee? Click for more information.
Ford Motor said this morning in Stanton, Tennessee that construction at the so-called BlueOval City mega-campus is well underway. The electric vehicle and battery manufacturing site in West Tennessee begins production in 2025. BlueOval City is a vital part of Ford’s plan to increase US EV production and make them more accessible to customers. Ford is targeting a production rate of 2 million EVs globally by late 2026 – 500,000 from Tennessee.
“BlueOval City is the blueprint for Ford’s electric future around the world,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chair. “We will build revolutionary electric vehicles at an advanced manufacturing site that works in harmony with the planet, aligning business growth and innovation with environmental progress.”
BlueOval City will make Ford’s second-generation electric truck, code-named Project T3 with the capacity of 500,000 EV trucks a year at full production. Tennessee is a “right to work” (for less?) state, which means workers don’t have to belong to a union. Tennessee sent at least $500 million in incentives from its taxpayers to close the deal announced back in September of 2021.
It’s ironic that the state of Michigan today repealed the state’s right to work law – the birthplace and longstanding home of Ford Motor. “Today, we are coming together to restore workers’ rights, protect Michiganders on the job, and grow Michigan’s middle class,” Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer said when signing the legislation.
The sprawling Tennessee assembly plant will use carbon-free electricity from the day it opens. For the first time in 120 years, Ford is also using recovered energy from the site’s utility infrastructure and geothermal system to provide carbon-free heat for the assembly plant. This will save about 300 million cubic feet of natural gas typically needed each year to heat similarly sized vehicle assembly plants, Ford claimed.
Ford’s Project T3 is developing its second-generation EV truck concurrently with the new assembly plant. Ford claims this results in efficiencies, such as a 30% smaller general assembly footprint than traditional plants while delivering higher production capacity.
The 3600-acre campus also has an integrated BlueOval SK battery manufacturing on-site. It will build battery cells, arrays and assemble battery packs that will be delivered just across the site into the assembly plant in less than 30 minutes.
Project T3 is short for “Trust The Truck” – a code name from the development team. The team’s “single guiding principle has been to create a truck people can trust in the digital age – one that’s fully updatable, constantly improving, and supports towing, hauling, exportable power and endless new innovations owners will want,” Ford said.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Ford Motor BlueOval City – 6000 Jobs go to Tennessee
Avatar of the Rouge in Tennessee? Click for more information.
Ford Motor said this morning in Stanton, Tennessee that construction at the so-called BlueOval City mega-campus is well underway. The electric vehicle and battery manufacturing site in West Tennessee begins production in 2025. BlueOval City is a vital part of Ford’s plan to increase US EV production and make them more accessible to customers. Ford is targeting a production rate of 2 million EVs globally by late 2026 – 500,000 from Tennessee.
“BlueOval City is the blueprint for Ford’s electric future around the world,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chair. “We will build revolutionary electric vehicles at an advanced manufacturing site that works in harmony with the planet, aligning business growth and innovation with environmental progress.”
BlueOval City will make Ford’s second-generation electric truck, code-named Project T3 with the capacity of 500,000 EV trucks a year at full production. Tennessee is a “right to work” (for less?) state, which means workers don’t have to belong to a union. Tennessee sent at least $500 million in incentives from its taxpayers to close the deal announced back in September of 2021.
It’s ironic that the state of Michigan today repealed the state’s right to work law – the birthplace and longstanding home of Ford Motor. “Today, we are coming together to restore workers’ rights, protect Michiganders on the job, and grow Michigan’s middle class,” Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer said when signing the legislation.
The sprawling Tennessee assembly plant will use carbon-free electricity from the day it opens. For the first time in 120 years, Ford is also using recovered energy from the site’s utility infrastructure and geothermal system to provide carbon-free heat for the assembly plant. This will save about 300 million cubic feet of natural gas typically needed each year to heat similarly sized vehicle assembly plants, Ford claimed.
Ford’s Project T3 is developing its second-generation EV truck concurrently with the new assembly plant. Ford claims this results in efficiencies, such as a 30% smaller general assembly footprint than traditional plants while delivering higher production capacity.
The 3600-acre campus also has an integrated BlueOval SK battery manufacturing on-site. It will build battery cells, arrays and assemble battery packs that will be delivered just across the site into the assembly plant in less than 30 minutes.
Project T3 is short for “Trust The Truck” – a code name from the development team. The team’s “single guiding principle has been to create a truck people can trust in the digital age – one that’s fully updatable, constantly improving, and supports towing, hauling, exportable power and endless new innovations owners will want,” Ford said.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.