Ford To Invest Billions To Turn Oakville, ON Plant Into EV Manufacturing Hub
Ontario’s getting some pretty big EV investment from Ford.
Ford already has investments in Canada; the Oakville plant just outside of Toronto currently makes the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers. But, Ford is taking that plant a different direction. It’s investing a whole lot of money into the plant, to turn it into a Canadian manufacturing hub. “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,” said Ford Canada CEO, Bev Goodman.
Ford’s throwing $1.8 billion CAD into the Oakville, ON plant, to make the crossover-oriented plant into a EV manufacturing multiplex. Now to be called the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, this reworked space will include both vehicle manufacturing and EV battery manufacturing. CEO Jim Farley says the Oakville complex will play a vital role in Ford’s EV onslaught.
The plant will now include a new 407,000-square-foot addition of a battery plant. This battery plant will use cells made at Ford’s forthcoming Kentucky BlueOval plant, where Oakville workers will assemble new battery packs that will go into the EVs made on location. Oh, and Ford says that new EV will be a next-generation EV pickup, but that hasn’t been announced yet.
Currently, the Oakville plant produces the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus. Thus, these cars are going out of production by the end of 2023, as Ford plans to begin retooling the plant by the second quarter of 2024. The facility is expected to be up and running by 2025.
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Kevin has been obsessed with cars ever since he could talk. He even learned to read partially by learning and reading the makes and models on the back of cars, only fueling his obsession. Today, he is an automotive journalist and member of the Automotive Press Association. He is well-versed in electrification, hybrid cars, and vehicle maintenance.
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The last passengers to buy first-class tickets on the Titanic. EV's don't work in cold climates. And they've got a price that's... TOO HIGH. (See 1980 comedy film "USED CARS."