Ford Throws Out Henry Ford’s Assembly Line To Make Low-cost Evs In America

Ford said Monday it will put $2 cardinal to toggle shape its Louisville Assembly Plant into a mill tin of making a caller procreation of affordable EVs, starting pinch a mid-sized pickup motortruck pinch a guidelines value of $30,000 that is slated to motorboat successful 2027.

This is not a modular mill upgrade. To trim nan costs of manufacturing, Ford has upended nan moving assembly statement strategy launched by its laminitis Henry Ford much than 112 years ago.

The automaker’s willingness to alteration nan century-old strategy that made Ford a family sanction reflects nan high-stakes juggling enactment of trading a statement of affordable electrical vehicles that could beryllium made successful nan United States faster, much efficiently, and pinch less parts each while preserving profit margins. And arsenic Ford’s main EV, digital, and creation serviceman Doug Field noted Monday it’s not conscionable astir driving down individual costs down, but a alteration that will let nan automaker to compete pinch China.

A halfway skunkworks squad of astir 500 group successful California — led by erstwhile Tesla executive Alan Clarke and filled with talent from companies for illustration Tesla, Rivian, Apple, and Lucid Motors — spent respective years processing nan caller accumulation strategy and underlying conveyance platform. (That squad is divided betwixt Palo Alto and a caller agency successful Long Beach.)

The extremity consequence is what Ford calls nan “universal accumulation system,” which changes its azygous conveyor statement into a three-branched assembly tree. Ford has besides developed a cosmopolitan EV level that will usage lithium robust phosphate batteries using tech licensed from China’s CATL and manufactured astatine its caller $3 cardinal BlueOval Battery Park mill successful Michigan. That factory, which is expected to travel online successful 2026, will employment 1,700 hourly workers.

The caller EV level will dwell of ample single-piece aluminum unicastings that uses acold less parts and will let nan beforehand and rear of nan conveyance to beryllium assembled separately connected 2 of nan branches. The 3rd branch is possibly astir notable; this is wherever nan structural artillery will beryllium assembled pinch seats, consoles, and carpeting. The 3 components will travel together astatine nan extremity of nan statement to shape nan vehicle.

Unlike a accepted assembly line, wherever nan workers move on adding nan ligament harness and different parts to nan frame, nan EV level will dwell of 3 kits. Within that kit, each fasteners, scanners and powerfulness devices required for nan occupation are included – and successful nan correct predisposition for use, according to Ford.

The EV level will usage 20% less parts than a emblematic conveyance and will beryllium produced 15% faster, nan institution said.

“I’ve surely ne'er seen thing successful nan nationalist domain that looks thing for illustration this,” Clarke told TechCrunch successful an question and reply up of nan launch. “And I deliberation that a manufacturing master would look astatine this, and particularly if they’ve been successful nan automotive manufacture for a fewer decades, would benignant of scoff astatine it and say, ‘why would you do it this way?’”

Clarke is convinced that erstwhile manufacturing experts spot really quickly a conveyance tin spell from commencement to finish, others will effort to emulate this.

The caller format and accompanying EV level will alteration really nan Louisville mill operates and trim nan number of workers employed there. The translator will apt ripple done nan broader proviso concatenation arsenic well. Ultimately, Clarke says, this will sphere American jobs.

Ford employs astir 2,808 hourly workers astatine its Louisville assembly plant, which makes nan Ford Escape and Lincoln Cosair. Production of those 2 vehicles will proceed astatine nan works done 2026 earlier switching to nan caller family of EVs. Eventually, nan works will support 2,200 hourly workers. A Ford spokesperson said nan automaker has offered a typical status incentive program for others.

A simplification successful workers and a “significant” summation successful automation mightiness typically punctual protests from nan United Auto Workers. But Clarke says Ford worked pinch nan UAW intimately from nan opening and that location is “buy in.”

“The teams are really excited astir what’s coming because they cognize that we person to beryllium competitory and we person to make money from this task for jobs to enactment successful America,” he said, later adding, “This isn’t really, you know, optional.”