Ford starts construction of BlueOval City in Tennessee

Ford is moving full steam, or full electrons, ahead with its plans to electrify a significant portion of its vehicle catalog by the end of the decade. A substantial part of that effort lies in Tennessee, where Ford just started construction on one of two massive EV and battery production facilities.

BlueOval City in Tennessee and BlueOvalSK in Kentucky result from a $7 billion investment by Ford and its partner, SK On. The Kentucky site will contain two battery plants, and the Tennessee location will house one and is now under construction. Though the announcement calls this the beginning of construction, the automaker’s crews have already moved millions of cubic yards of soil and stone.

Ford’s investment will also bring thousands of jobs to the states, including almost 6,000 at the Stanton, Tennessee, location and 5,000 at the Glendale, Kentucky, facility. When all is said and done, Ford says the new facilities will offer a combined 129 gigawatt hours of production capacity yearly.