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Ford has launched construction on BlueOval City, the automaker’s $5.6 billion factory outside Memphis, TN.
BlueOval City will develop an all-electric pickup truck, likely to be branded as an F-Series. SK On, will manufacture EV batteries for Ford and Lincoln vehicles in a separate plant within the complex.
BlueOval City will create 6,000 jobs and is on track to open in 2025.
The official groundbreaking for the new complex comes less than a year after Ford announced what it described as the most advanced auto production complex in the company’s long history.
“We’re building the future right here in West Tennessee,” said Eric Grubb, Ford’s director of new footprint construction. “This facility is the blueprint for future Ford manufacturing facilities and will allow Ford to help lead America’s transition to electric vehicles.”
With structural steel now rising in the BlueOval City, Ford, now the second-largest electric-vehicle brand in the US behind Tesla, is closing in on its global target of a 2 million unit production run rate by the end of 2026.
Significant progress has been made since March, when Ford and its construction partners began preparing the ground for the construction of the 6-sq.-m (15.5-sq.-km) campus dedicated to the project.
Crews moved more than 4.6 million cu.-yds. (3.5 million cu.-m) of soil, enough to fill 34,500 backyard swimming pools, and 370,000 tons of rock were moved, equivalent to the weight of more than 1,600 Statues of Liberty.
Work crews are installing more than 4,600 deep foundations, which include enough steel to reach a height equal to about 176 Eiffel Towers when laid end to end.
Ford engages with West Tennessee communities, including through live-streamed discussions and collaborative projects about the project’s impact on area residents and the environment.
As the BlueOval City project continues, Ford is giving senior executives new assignments to accelerate plans for growth and value creation.
Doug Field, who joined Ford in 2021 as chief technology officer, has been named chief advanced product development and technology officer. In his expanded role, Field will continue to oversee EV products, software and development of digital systems and advanced driver assistance, while also taking on vehicle hardware design and engineering, the company said.
Lisa Drake, vice president-EV industrialization, will also be responsible for manufacturing engineering. Chuck Gray, who had been vice president-EV technology, was named vice president-vehicle hardware engineering.
Both Drake and Gray report to Field, as does Anthony Lo, Ford’s chief design officer.
“As we enter the intense execution phase for Ford Model e (the automaker’s dedicated EV division) and our $50 billion investment in breakthrough electric and digital vehicles, Doug, Lisa and Chuck are taking on larger roles and build great teams,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley.
“Building and scaling the next generation of electric and software-defined vehicles requires a different focus and mix of talent from Ford’s great team and many exciting new colleagues joining our company ,” he says.
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