Ford revealed plans Friday for a second electric truck, codenamed Project T3, during a press conference at Ford’s $5.6 billion BlueOval City EV mega-campus. The automaker says construction is on track to begin production in 2025.
After capping the year off with 61,575 electric vehicle sales (up 126% YOY) in 2022, Ford became the second-largest EV maker in the US, behind only Tesla.
Sales were led by the Mustang Mach-e, selling nearly 40,000 last year and remaining one of the top-selling EVs. Ford’s sales were boosted by the introduction of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup, which customers began receiving in May. The electric pickup was the best-selling electric truck since its launch, with 15,617 units sold through December.
To accelerate EV production, Ford revealed plans in 2021 for its “largest, most advanced and efficient auto complex” in the automaker’s rich 118-year history.
The project, called BlueOval City, is being constructed on a nearly 6-square-mile site in Stanton, Tennessee, that Ford says will build next-generation electric F-series and lithium-ion batteries.
Alongside two additional battery plants in Kentucky in collaboration with SK Innovation, Ford expects to have 129 gigawatt-hours in annual US production capacity.
After breaking ground on its BlueOval SK battery park in December, Ford said it was “on schedule to begin production in 2025.” Ford’s latest announcement confirms the BlueOval City mega-campus is still on track and will be home to the automaker’s second electric truck.
Construction underway at Ford’s BlueOval City EV mega-campus (Source: Ford)
Ford plans for a second electric vehicle at EV mega-campus
The automaker revealed Friday plans for a second fully-electric truck after the F-150 Lightning. The new truck, which is being called Project T3, is to be produced at BlueOval City.
Project T3 is short for “Trust The Truck,” a tribute to the team developing a truck that people can trust in the digital age, one that’s fully capable of towing, hauling, exporting power, and endless innovations.
Although no specifics were mentioned, Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, said at the release:
Project T3 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionize America’s truck. We are melding 100 years of Ford truck know-how with world-class electric vehicle, software and aerodynamics talent. It will be a platform for endless innovation and capability.
He continued to describe it as being “like the Millennium Falcon – with a back porch attached.” Drawing on the success of the F-150 Lightning, Ford’s Project T3 aims to “further grow and reinvent the Ford truck franchise.”
Ford F-150 Lightning (Source: Ford)
On Ford’s Q4 earnings call in February, Farley said the company was “deep in the development of our second-generation EVs, including our next-generation full-size pickup.” Farley added the new EVs would be “fully software-updatable,” meaning a “brand-new electric architecture” that will greatly improve efficiency.
Ford’s EV mega-campus is expected to play a critical role as the automaker strives to achieve a two million run production rate by 2026.
Once fully operational, Ford expects its campus in Tennessee will be capable of producing 500,000 electric trucks per year. To prepare nearly 6,000 incoming employees, Ford is introducing BlueOval Learning, which provides teacher support and increases work-based learning experiences.
The campus is designed to be Ford’s first carbon-neutral campus, as the automaker aims to power all plants globally with renewable and carbon-free electricity by 2035. For the first time in 120 years, the automaker will also use recovered energy from the site’s utility system to provide carbon-free heat, saving roughly 300 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Ford is planning an on-site supplier park to speed up customization, including the robotic installation of spray-in bed liners and integrated toolboxes before the electric trucks are sent to customers.
Keyword: Ford preps for its second electric truck, Project T3, at future BlueOval City EV mega-campus