New Canadian EV Complex
Ford, who in 2023 already announced the construction of a massive new EV pickup production complex in Tennessee called BlueOval City, recently unveiled the next step in its plan to radically transform its lineup and become a leader in North American electric car production. It will invest $1.8 billion (Canadian) in its Oakville, Ontario, Canada assembly complex to transform it into an electric vehicle manufacturing hub. The campus, which currently produces crossover SUVs, will be renamed the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, and re-tooling and modernization efforts will begin in the second quarter of 2024.
The company’s announcement marks the first time a mainstream automaker has announced plans to produce EVs for the consumer market in Canada. Earlier in 2023, General Motors announced it would build BrightDrop commercial vehicles in Ingersoll, Ontario, but those electric vehicles are destined for delivery fleets only. While Ford hasn’t announced which products will be made at the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, it does say that they will be next-generation products, and are a key part of the company’s plan to scale production of electric vehicles and make them more accessible to millions of customers.
New EV Complex: Transformation
Ford’s Canadian investment allows it to repurpose and transform existing buildings into a state-of-the-art facility that leverages Ford of Canada’s skilled and experienced workforce, well-known across North America for delivering high initial quality. The company will re-tool its facilities and will train and up-skill its workforce, ensuring a bright future for Canadian electric car production. The announcement is a boon for the Canadian auto industry, as well as a testament to the skills, hard works, and dedication of Ford’s Oakville workforce.
“Ford of Canada has been a leader in the country’s auto industry since it was founded 119 years ago,” said Bev Goodman, president and CEO, Ford of Canada. “As the top-selling auto brand in Canada for 14 straight years, the successful transition to EV production in Oakville will help deliver stable Canadian employment with the opportunity to build the new skills and expertise to drive Ford and the industry forward.”
Built on 487 acres, Ford’s Oakville site includes three body shops, one paint building, and one assembly building. After its transformation through 2024 and 2025, the campus will feature a new 407,000 square-foot on-site battery production plant that will construct cells and arrays from the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky, a joint venture between Ford and SK Innovation. Canadian workers will take these components and assemble battery packs that will be installed in vehicles assembled on-site.
Latest EV Manufacturing Move
The announcement is just the latest in an onslaught of bold moves from Ford to ramp up electric car production. In addition to transforming existing sites like Oakville and Cologne, Germany, it’s building new facilities like BlueOvalCity which is the home of a battery plant and will also be the home of the next-generation Ford EV pickup. Ford is also building a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, home to 2,500 employees, and is set to break ground on a new battery factory in Turkey, with production to start in 2026. All of this in addition to the EV production already underway in Dearborn, Michigan, where the F-150 Lightning is made, and Cuautitlan, Mexico, where the Mustang Mach-E is built.
