Ford throws out Henry Ford’s assembly line to make low-cost EVs in America

Ford announced a $2 billion investment to convert its Louisville Assembly Plant into a facility for producing a new generation of affordable electric vehicles (EVs), beginning with a mid-sized pickup truck priced around $30,000 and launching in 2027. This transformation involves abandoning the traditional moving assembly line system pioneered by Henry Ford over a century ago. Instead, Ford is implementing a novel "universal production system" that replaces the single conveyor line with a three-branched assembly tree, allowing separate assembly of the vehicle’s front, rear, and structural battery components before final integration. This approach aims to reduce manufacturing costs, speed up production by 15%, and use 20% fewer parts, enabling Ford to compete more effectively with Chinese EV manufacturers. The new EV platform will utilize large single-piece aluminum unicastings and lithium iron phosphate batteries licensed from China’s CATL, produced at Ford’s upcoming $3 billion BlueOval Battery Park in Michigan, expected to open in 2026. The development of