Ford is investing $700 million in Michigan to build the electric F-150
The Big Blue Oval's first EV pickup will reach the public in mid-2022.
If you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs. In Ford's case, the omelet is the new electric F-150 pickup and the automaker has about 700 million eggs it needs to crack.
Ford announced on Thursday that it is investing some $700 million in the future of the F-150. The company also announced that production of the 2021 F-150, which marks a new generation for the pickup, has commenced at the OEM's Ford Rouge Center campus.
That $700 million isn't just going to freshening up the curtains. Ford will use some of that money to construct an entirely new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, which will be responsible for the forthcoming all-electric F-150. The construction should add 300 jobs, Ford said, which will focus on battery assembly and producing both the electric F-150 and the F-150 PowerBoost hybrid.
"F-Series pickups are the backbone of work and productivity across the country," said Jim Farley, Ford's current COO and incoming CEO, in a statement. "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."
Of course, Ford is still light on details about the electric F-150, since it's still a ways off. However, the company has once again stressed the work-first focus of the truck. It will be able to act as a power source for offsite work, in addition to promising better output and acceleration than any current iteration of the pickup. It'll have a big ol' frunk, too, but perhaps the most important part for future electric F-150 owners is Ford's estimation that the vehicle will require demonstrably lower running costs than current gas- and diesel-powered pickups.
We'll be getting a taste of some of that a little early, thanks to the F-150 PowerBoost, which will arrive before the fully-electric version. This gas-electric hybrid promises an in-bed power source and, like every truck in the history of trucks , it should be more capable than the generation that preceded it. All 2021 F-150s get some pretty trick upgrades, too, like the Sync 4 infotainment system and a sweet center console that can fold into a table for work purposes.
(For a closer look at how the 2021 Ford F-150 stacks up against rivals like the Chevy Silverado, Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra, check out our comparison feature.)
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