A logo is seen on the grill of an E-transit concept vehicle during a press event at the Ford Halewood transmissions plant in Liverpool.
STANTON, Tennessee - Ford Motor Co plans to build up to 500,000 electric trucks a year at its BlueOval City complex in western Tennessee, the automaker said on Friday.
BlueOval City will assemble several versions of Ford's next-generation F-series electric pickup, which the company calls Project T.
The Stanton plant northeast of Memphis is part of Ford's plan to have global EV production capacity of 2 million vehicles a year in place by the end of 2026.
Ford said that BlueOval City will have a general assembly footprint that is 30% smaller than that of a traditional assembly plant, with a higher production capacity. Most auto plants are designed to build 250,000 -- 300,000 vehicles a year.
Tesla said earlier this month that its electric vehicle plants will be up to 40% smaller than traditional plants.
Ford's Project T pickup, a successor to the current F 150 Lightning, is being developed on a new dedicated EV truck architecture.
In 2026, a new platform, which has the internal designation TE 1, will also underpin full-size electric SUVs that could replace the current Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, according to suppliers.
A battery plant with Korean partner SK On will have a capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours worth of cells, enough supply for half a million EVs a year, according to the $5.6 billion BlueOval City complex.