US automaker Ford is investing C$1.8bn ($1.35bn) in its Oakville, Ontario, plant to create an electric vehicle (EV) hub.
The investment will be in EV vehicle and battery pack assembly and repurpose existing buildings to create an EV production facility, according to an 11 April statement.
The work will begin in the second quarter of 2024 and is expected to allow EV production to begin in the following year.
Although Ford will use existing buildings on site for the new production, it will also build a 407,000ft2 battery plant that will utilize cells and arrays from its BlueOval SK battery plant in Kentucky. Those will then be assembled in Oakville into battery packs for EVs assembled at the plant.
The automaker is on path to reach its targeted annual production run rate of 600,000 EVs by the end of 2023 and over 2mn by the end of 2026.
Ford's global sales of EVs increased by 94pc to total nearly 108,600 units last year from 2021.
