BlueOval City is a planned automotive assembly complex near Stanton, Tennessee that will be operated by

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

and

SK Innovation SK Innovation Co., Ltd. () is an intermediate holding company of SK Group engaged in petroleum, alternative energy, and oil exploration. It runs its business through eight major subsidiaries, including SK Energy, SK Geo Centric, SK On, SK , SK I ...

. It is expected to be operational in 2025. The facility takes its name from Ford's logo. It will primarily consist of an automotive assembly plant to produce

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

pickup trucks A pickup truck or pickup is a light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removabl ...

, including the Ford F-150 lightning, and a plant to manufacture

electric vehicle batteries An electric vehicle battery is a rechargeable battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). They are typically lithium-ion batteries that are designed for high power-to-weight r ...

, as well as a

battery recycling Battery recycling is a recycling activity that aims to reduce the number of batteries being disposed as municipal solid waste. Batteries contain a number of heavy metals and toxic chemicals and disposing of them by the same process as regula ...

facility, suppliers, and a training center. BlueOval City

The project is expected to cost $5.6 billion, making it the most expensive single investment in Tennessee history. It will employ approximately 5,800 people when complete.

History

The project was jointly announced by both companies on September 27, 2021. A ceremony was held the following day at

Shelby Farms Shelby Farms is a public park located in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, in East Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. It is one of the largest urban parks in the US and the world, at a size of and covers more than five times the area of Centr ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

, providing further details of the project. The facilities will be constructed at the Memphis Regional Megasite, also known as the West Tennessee Megasite, which was designated as an industrial site in September 2009. The site is located in rural Haywood County near the town of Stanton, about east of Memphis. It is accessible from

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

. The state was initially expected to provide approximately $500 million worth of incentives that include infrastructure improvements, grants, and a new campus operated by the

Tennessee College of Applied Technology The Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT) is a public technical college system operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. It has 24 campuses located throughout the US state of Tennessee. It was previously named the Tennessee Technology ...

(TCAT) to train workers for the plants. The final cost ballooned to $884 million. In addition to BlueOval City, Ford and SK Innovation announced plans to construct twin battery plants in

Glendale, Kentucky Glendale is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in Hardin County, Kentucky, Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. It is included in the Elizabethtown, Kentucky Elizabethtown metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistica ...

, called BlueOval SK.

References

{{reflist Ford factories Motor vehicle assembly plants in Tennessee 2021 establishments in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Haywood County, Tennessee

History

See also

References