Ford has officially broken ground on BlueOval City, a massive “mega campus” that will herald the future of the brand. The facility will be the largest and most advanced automotive production facility in the brand’s history.
Located in Stanton, Tennessee, the automaker has started erecting structural steel less than a year after Ford and SK ON announced their $5.6 billion investment in EV production. The facility will be tasked with building “a revolutionary all-new electric truck” as well as advanced batteries for future Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
“We are building the future right here in West Tennessee,” said Eric Grubb, Ford’s director of new footprint construction. “This facility is the blueprint for Ford’s future manufacturing facilities and will enable Ford to help lead America’s shift to electric vehicles.”
Read Also: Ford To Invest $11.4 Billion Into Two Massive EV And Battery Plants
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Ford says that production at the facility will commence in 2025 at the nearly six-square-mile (16 square km) mega campus. It will be operated by 6,000 workers and will be a vital step in its plan to produce 2 million EVs globally by 2026.
Since March, when Ford and its partners began preparing the land for construction, more than 4.6 million cubic yards of soil have been moved. That’s enough to fill around 34,500 backyard swimming pools. In that time, 370,000 tons of stone were also laid, all of which weigh 1,600 times more than the Statue of Liberty, and 4,600 deep foundations were installed, which are as long as approximately 176 Eiffel Towers when placed end-to-end.
One of two massive complexes planned by Ford to prepare for its EV revolution, the other will be located in Kentucky. That $5.8 billion site, dubbed the BlueOvalSK Battery Park, will supply Ford plants around the country with battery packs. Also scheduled to open in 2025, it will produce 86 gigawatt-hours of batteries annually.
“This is our moment – our biggest investment ever – to help build a better future for America,” Jim Farley, Ford’s president and CEO, said last September. “We are moving now to deliver breakthrough electric vehicles for the many rather than the few. It’s about creating good jobs that support American families, an ultra-efficient, carbon-neutral manufacturing system, and a growing business that delivers value for communities, dealers and shareholders.”
