Ford to spend $1.3bn to convert Canadian plant to EV production

The 200ha plant, to be renamed the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will begin retooling and modernising in the second quarter of 2024 before producing EVs for the North American market. The process is expected to take six months.

Dave Nowicki, Ford’s director of EV manufacturing, told journalists: “We’re reusing all of its infrastructure, from the land itself to the buildings and even its roads to quickly prepare for a new generation of manufacturing.”

The changes to Oakville will include combining three body shops into one and adding battery pack assembly, Ford said. The facility will use cells from a battery plant that is under construction in Kentucky.

When complete, Oakville will be the company’s first fully converted auto assembly plant. The company plans to develop the capacity to produce 2 million EVs by the end of 2026.

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