Future ‘Project T3’ Electric Ford Truck Will Be Made in America


Ford Motor Company’s Blue Oval City in West Tennessee is taking shape as a carbon neutral plant that will be able to produce up to 500,000 electric trucks a year when it reaches full capacity. The deal has worked out for Tennessee citizens too with more than $20 million contributed to local communities since announcing in 2021.

Blue Oval City will be the home of Ford‘s second-generation electric truck, currently codenamed T3. Ford says the new plant will change how trucks are built and that it will combine its truck know-how with world-class talent.

During an earnings call in February Ford CEO Jim Farley said that the company is “deep in the development of our second-generation EVs, including our next-generation electric full-size pickup.”

“That means a brand-new electric architecture, and they’re going to be radically simplified. Imagine three body styles, each with volume potential of up to 1 million units and just a handful of orderable combinations,” Farley said.

Blue Oval City
Ford Motor Company executives break ground at Blue Oval City in Tennessee.
Ford Motor Company

The company is targeting a production run of 2 million electric vehicles globally by late 2026.

Ford says Blue Oval City will use carbon-free electricity from first day, while also using recovered energy and a geothermal system to provide heat. Ford says that saves about 300 million cubic feet of natural gas normally needed to heat and assembly plant of this size for a year. The general assembly plant is 30 percent smaller than traditional plants, according to Ford.

Blue Oval City will also save water by reducing evaporation from its cooling towers. Ford plans to use no freshwater for its assembly process, in addition to managing stormwater and protecting the water table. Ford says the assembly process will send zero waste to landfill.

The site also includes battery manufacturing in a joint venture with SK. Teams at the location will build battery cells and arrays and assemble battery packs that will be delivered to the assembly plant, in less than 30 minutes. It even has an on-site Lowe’s story supplying building materials. Additionally, the campus includes two construction equipment rental companies and three concrete batch plants.

To fill the campus, Ford is beginning its Blue Oval Learning training program, including K-12 initiatives, post-secondary education partnerships and technical training in hopes of filling 6,000 new jobs.

In K-12 grades it will help expand STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) curriculum; Ford will also donate mechatronics training equipment to programs in Haywood, Tipton and Lauderdale counties. It will allow more dual enrollment for high school students, partner with colleges to develop internships and provide advance training in EV and battery manufacturing. Finally, BlueOval City will have a state-of-the-art training center, created with the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology.



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