Ford Motor Company has announced a C$1.8 billion investment to transform its Oakville Assembly Complex into a major electric vehicle (EV) production hub in Canada, as part of the company’s strategy to scale EV production and make them more accessible to consumers.
The facility, soon to be called the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will start modernization and retooling in the second quarter of 2024 to produce next-generation EVs, marking the first time a full-line automaker has committed to manufacturing passenger EVs in Canada for the North American market.
Jim Farley, Ford President and CEO, said in a statement on Tuesday, “Canada and the Oakville complex will play a vital role in our Ford+ transformation. It will be a modern, super-efficient, vertically integrated site for battery and vehicle assembly. I’m most excited for the world to see the incredible next-generation electric and fully digitally connected vehicles produced in Oakville.”
The investment will enable Ford to repurpose and upgrade existing buildings into a state-of-the-art facility, utilizing Ford of Canada’s skilled workforce. Ford’s strategic approach to expanding EV production involves building new greenfield sites as well as transforming existing manufacturing facilities, such as those in Oakville and Cologne, Germany.
This transformation marks a significant step towards a stronger Canadian EV production industry and increased employment opportunities in the sector. The revamped Oakville site will feature a new 407,000 square-foot on-site battery plant that will utilize cells and arrays from BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky, and Oakville workers will assemble battery packs to be installed in on-site vehicle assembly.
