[ad_1]
GLENDALE, Ky. (AP) – Ford and a partner company plan to build three large EV battery factories and an auto assembly plant by 2025 – a dramatic investment in the future of EV technology, which is estimated to create 10,800 jobs and shift the automaker’s future manufacturing presence southwards .
The factories, to be built in Kentucky and Tennessee, will manufacture batteries for the next generation of Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles produced in North America. Taken together, they represent the largest single production investment the 118-year-old company has ever made, and some of the largest factory spending in the world.
In particular, the new factories will provide a huge new supply of jobs that are likely to pay solid wages. Most of the new jobs will be full-time, with a relatively small percentage holding temporary leave and absence status.
Together with its South Korean battery partner SK Innovation, Ford plans to spend $ 5.6 billion in rural Stanton, Tennessee, where it will build a factory to manufacture F-Series electric pickups. A joint venture called BlueOvalSK will establish a battery factory and dual battery facilities in Glendale, Kentucky, near Louisville, on the same site near Memphis. Ford estimated the investment in Kentucky at $ 5.8 billion and the company’s share of the total at $ 7 billion.
With the new editions, Ford is making a significant bet on a future when most motorists will eventually switch from internal combustion engines, which have powered vehicles in the United States for more than a century, to battery power. Should this transition cause disruption or delays, the gambling could affect the company’s bottom line. Ford predicts that 40 to 50% of its US sales will be electric by 2030. Currently, only about 1% of the vehicles on America’s roads are electric.
In an interview on Monday, CEO Jim Farley said it was up to the workers at the new plants to decide whether they would be represented by the United Auto Workers union. That question could spark an epic battle with union leaders who want the workers of the future to join the union and earn top UAW manufacturing wages of around $ 32 an hour. It represents a high-stakes test for the UAW that will require jobs for thousands of members who will lose their jobs in transitioning from engines and transmissions to petroleum-powered vehicles.
Ford’s move could also conflict with President Joe Biden’s drive to create “well-paying union jobs” in a new, greener economy.
Farley said it was too early to talk about wages or unions in the new factories. He stressed that Ford would maintain a geographic production balance if the company’s investments in Ohio and Michigan were taken into account. Ford and General Motors have UAW-represented plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, states where it is common for politicians to actively campaign against union formation.
“We love our UAW partners,” said Farley. “You have been amazing on this electrification journey so far. But that is what the employees decide. “
Just four months ago, Ford announced that it would build two new battery plants in North America. However, Farley said demand for the Mustang Mach E electric SUV and over 150,000 orders for the F-150 electric pickup truck convinced the company to step up battery performance.
Farley said Ford intends to be the world leader in electric vehicles, a title now owned by upstart Tesla Inc.
Ford picked the Kentucky and Tennessee locations in part because of lower electricity costs, Farley said, and is less exposed to floods and hurricanes than other states. Battery factories use five times as much electricity as a typical assembly plant to make cells and assemble them into packages, so energy costs were a big factor, Farley said.
The company also needed vast swaths of land for the crops that were not available in other states, Farley said.
Both southern states also have skilled workers and are ready to train workers for the new jobs, he said.
“These jobs are very different from the jobs we’ve had in the past,” Farley said. “We want to work with states that really love this training and give you access to these low energy costs.”
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which serves the Memphis site, sells industrial power at a price that is below 93% of competitors across the country, CEO Jeff Lyash said. Prices have remained constant over the past decade and are expected to remain unchanged for the next 10 years, he said.
Taken together, the three new battery plants will be able to supply enough batteries to power 1 million vehicles a year with an output of about 129 gigawatts, said Lisa Drake, Ford’s chief operating officer.
Ford Motor Co., based in Dearborn, Michigan, rose more than 4% in expanded trading after the new factories were announced late Monday.
The union’s response was tempered on Monday and officials appeared optimistic about organizing the factories.
“We look forward to reaching out to these new employees and helping them develop these world-class vehicles and battery components,” Union President Ray Curry said in a statement.
Kristin Dziczek, senior vice president at the Center for Automotive Research, who monitors labor issues, said the union’s future depends largely on how the new plants are organized.
“It is imperative that the UAW organize these if they want to be involved in electrifying this industry,” she said.
The factories ‘union representation could become a point of contention in the next round of national contract talks with the union in two years’ time.
When General Motors first announced joint venture battery factories in recent years, its executives said workers would choose whether to unionize. UAW officials howled in protest. In May, GM announced it would support union organizing at the plants.
The Kentucky site is just 50 miles south of Louisville, where Ford has plants that make SUVs and trucks that are now powered by internal combustion engines. Ford didn’t want to comment on whether these plants would eventually make electric vehicles, but Dziczek said it would make sense to retrofit at least one. One plant makes the Ford Escape Small SUV in the most popular segment of the US market, she said.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in an interview that Ford’s 5,000 jobs at Glendale’s battery plants were the largest single job in the state’s history. And he said it will also create jobs with suppliers who make components for the plants. Earlier this month, state lawmakers approved $ 410 million in economic development incentives.
Beshear said Ford would get up to $ 250 million on a loan to help build it. It is forgivable when the company hits completion milestones. The package also includes the cost of Glendale land as well as up to $ 36 million in training incentives, he said.
Ford will officially announce the factories on Tuesday with ceremonies at both locations. In one block of downtown Glendale, there was no sign of dramatic changes in the economy coming from the new jobs on Monday night. Everything was quiet in the town, where the main shops are antique shops and corn and soybean fields stretching in all directions.
The Tennessee assembly plant is to be built on a 15.5 square kilometer site approximately 50 miles east of Memphis. Together, the Ford-operated assembly plant and battery factory would employ around 5,800 workers.
State officials have been trying unsuccessfully to develop the site for years. Governor Bill Lee said Tennessee offered Ford $ 500 million in incentives to win a competition with 15 other states. Lee said he was confident that lawmakers would approve the spending.
____
Krisher reported from Detroit. Associated Press Writer Kimberlee Kruesi contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any way without permission.
[ad_2]
