(Oakville) Ford Motor on Tuesday unveiled some details of a plan that will see it spend $1.8 billion at its Oakville assembly complex to turn it into a production center for electric vehicles.
The automaker said it would begin retooling the Ontario complex in the second quarter of 2024 and produce electric vehicles there in 2025.
Ford said the transformation of the Oakville site, which will be renamed Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will include a new 407,000 square foot battery plant where parts from the US operations will be assembled into battery packs.
General Motors already produces electric delivery vans in Canada, but Ford said this is the first time a full-line automaker has announced plans to produce electric passenger vehicles in Canada, for the North American market. .
“Canada and the Oakville complex will play a vital role in our Ford Plus transformation,” CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.
The company has pledged to invest more than US$50 billion in electric vehicles globally and aims to produce two million electric vehicles a year by the end of 2026 as part of its growth plan. Ford Plus.
Ford did not say which models it plans to build at the complex, which currently produces the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus.
The investment was first announced in 2020 amid labor negotiations with the company, with workers seeking long-term production commitments and the three Detroit automakers ultimately agreeing to invest in the Canadian operations of together with spending agreements with the Ontario and federal governments.
The two governments have agreed to provide $295 million each in funding to secure Ford’s investment.
“Ford’s partnership with Canada helps position us as a global leader in the electric vehicle supply chain for decades to come,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in the Ford press release.
The financial assistance comes as the federal government prepares to require that at least 20% of new vehicles sold in Canada be zero emissions by 2026, at least 60% by 2030 and 100% by 2035.
Ford’s commitment is just one of many made in Canada over the past few years. In particular, Volkswagen announced in March that it would build its first battery cell plant outside of Europe in St. Thomas, Ontario. The federal government has not yet specified the amount of money it has committed to guarantee Volkswagen’s investment.