JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation will be in the driver’s seat for rail traffic related to Ford Motor Co.’s massive new electric vehicle and battery plants planned for sites in Tennessee and Kentucky.
This week Ford announced it would develop a 3,600-acre mega campus called Blue Oval City northeast of Memphis. The facility will build the next generation of F-series battery-electric trucks and, in conjunction with SK Innovation, make batteries for electric vehicles. As one element of a plan to make the $5.6 billion campus carbon neutral, parts suppliers will be located on site to reduce the need for transportation.
CSX serves the site in Stanton, Tenn., which spans 6 square miles and is sandwiched between the railroad’s Nashville-to-Memphis main line and Interstate 40.
In Glendale, Ky., alongside Interstate 65 and CSX’s main line linking Louisville and Nashville, Ford and SK Innovation will build BlueOvalSK Battery Park to produce batteries for electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles. The $5.8 billion facility will span 1,500-acres on property CSX designated a megasite in 2010.
The Tennessee and Kentucky plants are expected to begin production in 2025, with a combined 11,000 new jobs. Ford’s investment – the largest ever in the U.S. for electric vehicles – is part of its plan to sustainably mass-produce affordable battery-powered vehicles. Ford expects up to half of its vehicle production to be electric vehicles by 2030.
“We’re excited to see innovative industrial development continue to gain momentum in Tennessee. As the most fuel efficient railroad in the U.S. and the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation on land, CSX welcomes Ford Motor Company to the Memphis Regional Megasite, and salutes their landmark investment for a more sustainable future,” the railroad said in a LinkedIn post.
A CSX spokeswoman was unable to provide a statement about the new Ford plants or how much traffic they might generate for the railroad.
Keep in mind both BNSF and NS have huge new intermodal facilities all of 30-40 miles down the road from the proposed Stanton plant.
Great if you can get workers to work.
Tennessee is a “right to work” state. Will the workers at these plants be UAW members?
JEFF – I believe Michigan is also RTW state, not sure. If FoMoCo (or its Tennessee workers) resists the UAW in the new plant, there could be lots of trouble in the existing UAW plants. Might be anyway if existing UAW plants in the north reduce or close.
We will see how it all turns out. My guess: Detroit Michigan Central reverts to being an abandoned train station, while the Glass House in Dearborn will have a huge VW logo supplanting the Blue Oval. Henry Ford follows Walter P. Chrysler into the dustbin of history.
Yes Michigan is a RTW state, but I think the workers at Ford and other plants in MI have been UAW members for many years. I was wondering if the plant in TN might be a fresh start, or whether the existing / legacy UAW representation will carry over. And if it does not, how will that affect wages in TN vs. MI, albeit for slightly different work i.e. electrical vehicles & batteries vs. internal combustion vehicles & their components.
We will leave it to the comment sections of the Detroit Free Press or Detroit News as to why this site was chosen as far from Dearborn as they could get. Be that as it may, it’s heartening to see all those proposed rail spurs. Think of everything being built without rail spurs – all those Amazon warehouses, Wisconsin’s FoxConn campus … the list be long and growing.
probably not enough business for more than 1 railroad.
Why not build where there is more than 1 RR?
FoMoCo River Rouge?