All 1,600 Kentucky battery plant employees laid off as Ford pivots away from EV business

[Bayard]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- All 1,600 employees of the brand new electric vehicle battery plant in Kentucky will be laid off before Ford converts it to manufacture batteries for data centers and other utilities.

Ford will turn the Glendale factory into a battery-storage business for customers such as utilities, wind- and solar-power developers, and massive data centers that train artificial intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. And Ford announced Monday it plans to begin shipping the battery energy storage systems from its Kentucky and Michigan plants in Late 2027, a shift to "higher-return opportunities." In total, the company said it'll take a $19.5 billion hit to its profit as it transitions away from the EV business.

"Instead of plowing billions into the future knowing these large EVs will never make money, we are pivoting," Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley said in an interview with the WSJ. In a video statement sent to employees Monday, Michael Adams, CEO of BlueOval SK — the original joint venture between Ford and SK On — said this shift would lead to "the end of all BlueOval SK Positions in Kentucky." Adams didn't give a timeframe for those layoffs, though he said employees will have access to benefits and continue to receive paychecks for the next 60 days.

Ford plans to hire 2,100 employees for the new iteration of the Glendale plant, and a company spokesperson said Monday that all those laid off will have the "opportunity to apply" for those new jobs. "This is a customer-driven shift to create a stronger, more resilient and more profitable Ford," Farley said in a news release Monday. "The operating reality has changed, and we are redeploying capital into higher-return growth opportunities: Ford Pro, our market-leading trucks and vans, hybrids and high-margin opportunities like our new battery energy storage business." In an interview with WDRB News in June, Adams said they were prepared to pivot away from their original business if the demand for EVs proved to not meet their production."

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said through a spokesperson Monday that the state will remain the "EV battery capital of the U.S. ... despite the President's shortsighted attacks on the industry." Beshear said he's in direct contact with Ford leadership on a restructured future project. "Right now, our primary focus is helping the affected BlueOval employees find new jobs," he said. "Team Kentucky is coordinating with company and community leaders to directly support these employees, in addition to planning job fairs and creating a website offering resources." Beshear's office said the terms of the incentive agreement are being renegotiated. "We are talking with Ford about it right now," Beshear said during an event in Louisville Monday evening.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford has lost $13 billion on its EV business since 2023.

https://www.wdrb.com/news/business/ford-will-lay-off-all-1-600-kentucky-battery-plant-employees-as-it-pivots-away/article_32ef2a58-eb9d-4bf4-820d-c2417b6793ea.html


Thanks again, Big Orange Turd.

[SheltieLover]

1. Merry Christmas from kraznov

[Greg_In_SF]

2. Smart move

Ford has lost over $30 Billion dollars (including R&D) trying to sell electric vehicles that very few people want.

[haele]

3. Infrastructure needs to be built up...

And the weight/tire wear issue needs to be addressed.
Other than those two situations, the only reason other than up front cost of the vehicle, there's very little reason Electric vehicles shouldn't be more popular -

- with fewer moving parts to deal with, they're cheaper to maintain long term (except for the tires, sigh),
- they're easier to make - again, fewer moving parts to put together with high tolerances, easier to properly QA, and quicker to get off the assembly line.
- they've got better pickup and go than an ICE engine,
- you've got the ability to recharge or top-off anywhere there's at least 12a 115 or 220v outdoor or RV outlet when you're visiting someone for a couple hours only for the cost of a $200 trickle charger adapter - if one didn't come with your car.

We recently did just over 500 mile each way road trip in an EV SUV (about $40 each way for the trip - $80 for 1000 miles...), and discovered some franchise gas stations on the freeways have added medium and high speed chargers as a service.
Gas stations make their money on the Convenience stores anyway, and people charging their cars are going to be spending around 20 minutes instead of 5 -10, so it's really a win for them.
So, EVs can easily be popular with the American public. If the oil and gas companies weren't so invested in putting out propaganda against them.
The only real disadvantage there is with an EV is if there's a Carrington Event - but that will also cause a hard crash in pretty near any vehicle made after 1985, so that's a rather small quibble.

[Greg_In_SF]

5. Ford's problem, specifically,

is that they put almost all their eggs in one electric basket with the F150 Lightning. It's been an amazing failure.

One of the biggest blunders was trying to retrofit the gas F150 in to an electric truck instead of building new from the ground up. Secondly, people buy trucks to carry heavy items and tow heavy objects. The Lightning sucks at both tasks. Towing an 8000 pound trailer, for example, will yield about 100 miles of distance in the Lightning. No one wants to stop every 90 minutes to charge batteries.

2025 sales figures:
Gas F150 trucks - 620,000
F150 Lightning - 26,000

[JT45242]

4. Hope Beshear and all KY communities demand that Ford pay back all tax breaks and subsidies. Let Mango Mussolini pay

You know Ford likely got a ton of tax payer money and incentives to build in Kentucky.

If they want to go all out fascist and bow down to Mango Mussolini, dry up the well and demand repayments.

Make life miserable for them. Make certain that every safety regulator finds the problems that used to be hey buddy fix it and turns them into hey Nazi's in the legacy of old man Henry Ford -- time to pay the piper you evil SOBs.

[Bayard]

6. Plant is supposed to be retro-fitted to build batteries for data centers, etc.

"Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said through a spokesperson Monday that the state will remain the "EV battery capital of the U.S. ... despite the President's shortsighted attacks on the industry." Beshear said he's in direct contact with Ford leadership on a restructured future project."