Ford Is Building New Michigan Facility for Electric F-150s

If there is anyone still doubting Ford’s commitment to the development of electric vehicles, they can lay all their doubts to rest as the automaker announced its latest investment in the technology.

According to a recent announcement Ford, it will be investing a total of $700 million in the research and development of the electric F-150. Along with this, the Blue Oval also confirmed it has started the production of the next-generation truck for the 2021 model year at the Ford Rouge Center campus.

Part of the $700M investment, Ford says, will be used to construct a new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center for the electric F-150. This undertaking will see the opening of at least 300 jobs and will be centered on the assembly and production of the battery for the electric F-150 and F-150 PowerBoost hybrid.

“F series pickups are the backbone of work and productivity across the country,” Ford’s incoming CEO Jim Farley said. “And now we are preparing to build a fully-electric version of America’s most popular vehicle and it will be a seriously capable, purpose-built tool for serious truck customers.”

However, other than the announcement of the investment, the automaker keeps mum on other details about the future F-150. The only thing the company has said about it is that it will be work-first-focused and will act as a power source for offsite work. It is also planned to have better output and acceleration compared to other F-150 models Ford has released.

But most importantly, Ford is looking to build electric F-150 trucks with lower running costs than other gas- and diesel-powered pickups on the market.

The F-150 PowerBoost is expected to arrive earlier than the fully electric F-150. The hybrid model, like all the other F-150 trucks in the Ford lineup, will feature the Sync 4 infotainment system and a center console that can be converted into a work table.