DEARBORN – The future Ford BlueOval City site has been under construction in Tennessee for roughly three years now, and even though the automaker’s plan for that site has changed amid weaker-than-expected demand for electric vehicles, it remains on track for completion, regardless.
It’s unclear when Ford BlueOval City will actually open, but the 3,600-acre site – which will be home to the wholly-owned Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center – already represents the biggest investment Ford has made in its century-plus of existence, it seems.
“This is the largest investment in the history of Ford Motor Company,” Dan Brady, Ford’s director of electric vehicle sales and retail marketing, told Fox 13 Memphis News, referring to the $5.6 billion FoMoCo is sinking into the BlueOval City site. “Being a construction guy, this is a once-in-a-lifetime (experience),” added Sam Kandah, Ford’s construction manager. “You’re never going to see this magnitude of construction again.”
As Ford Authority previously reported, the automaker will build the second-generation Ford F-150 EV at the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center – which may or may not continue to wear the Lightning name – starting in 2027.
That date is a bit later than originally expected, and the automaker also recently opted to scale back its planned output from 300,000 units annually to less than 100,000 amid slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles in general. Otherwise, things have largely progressed well at Ford BlueOval City, but the local BlueOval Good Neighbors Coalition, wants FoMoCo to sign a legally binding community benefits agreement, something that it hasn’t yet done, despite pressure from investors.
Regardless, Stanton, Tennessee Mayor Allan Sterbinsky recently stated that he believes Ford’s decision to delay production will actually help the surrounding community by giving it more time to beef up infrastructure needed to support a huge influx of people and businesses. In terms of how many jobs BlueOval City will create for that same area, Brady noted that “final numbers will come as we start to reveal the plant.”
