Carmaker Ford Motor has set aside US$3.7 billion in electric vehicle assembly plants in three states, namely Michigan, Ohio and Missouri.
Ford said $2.3 billion of total investment will be spent on electric vehicles (EVs), part of a previously planned $50 billion in EV spending through 2026.
An official from the company said Ford would receive incentive packages of about 150 million US dollars and about 200 million US dollars respectively from Michigan and Ohio.
In addition, the plant in Michigan is targeted to receive more than 6,200 jobs per hour and convert 3,000 temporary workers into full-time employees. They will also add a new electric commercial vehicle to the mid-decade lineup.
In March, it was rumored that Ford planned to increase the budget for EV development to 50 billion US dollars by 2026, up from 30 billion US dollars previously.
Ford also reiterated their commitment to running their EV and internal combustion engine (ICE) businesses as separate units in a move aimed at outperforming EV industry leader Tesla.
The company has said it plans to build more than 2 million EVs per year globally by the end of 2026, about a third of global production.
US President Joe Biden has previously issued an executive order encouraging automakers to sell 50 percent of new vehicles by 2030 as electric or plug-in hybrid models.
Ford said Thursday that it is investing $2 billion in three plants in Michigan to increase production of the new F-150 Lightning pickup truck to 150,000 units and build versions of the new gas-powered Ranger pickup and Mustang sports car. .
The company’s Ohio operations will see an investment of $1.6 billion and the creation of nearly 1,900 jobs, including new commercial vehicles.
About $100 million will be spent in Missouri to add 1,100 workers for a third shift at an assembly plant outside Kansas City to increase production of electric and gas Transit vans, Ford said.
Ford is employing about 56,000 US workers per hour by the end of 2021. Ford also said $1 billion will be spent over the next five years to improve the workplace environment at factories, including providing better access to healthy food, installing EV chargers in factories. parking lots, and improve security and lighting in factory parking lots.
