Ford preparing Ontario complex to build next-gen EVs

Ford Motor Co. is investing $1.3 billion in its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario to transform it into a high-volume hub of electric vehicle manufacturing. The campus, to be renamed Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will begin to retool and modernize in Q2 2024 to prepare for production of next-generation EVs.

According to Ford, this is the first time a full-line automaker has announced plans to produce passenger EVs in Canada for the North American market.

The current 487-acre Oakville site includes three body shops, one paint building, and one assembly building. The transformed campus will feature a new 407,000-sq.-ft. on-site battery plant that will use cells and arrays from BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky. Oakville workers will take these components and assemble battery packs that will then be installed in vehicles assembled on-site.