Plans for Ford Motor Company’s massive West Tennessee campus have changed significantly since the automaker announced its $5.6 billion investment in a manufacturing hub meant to produce next-generation electric pickup trucks and batteries in 2021.
Four years and a few production delays later, Ford jettisoned the electric idea in favor of building gas-powered models. The business case for EV manufacturing eroded due to “lower-than-expected demand, high costs, and regulatory changes,” the company stated in December.
But Ford still intends to honor its commitments to the state, according to a company spokesperson, including promises to create roughly 5,800 jobs at the BlueOval City site in exchange for a $900 million state-sponsored incentives package.
Here’s what to know.
Electric vehicle plans fizzle but battery plant will continue
Original plans for the BlueOval City campus included a manufacturing facility for Ford’s EV pickup truck and a battery plant owned and operated by BlueOval SK, a joint venture between Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On.
The initial goal for EV production was 2025, but the start date was pushed back twice over the last two years as the electric vehicle market shifted, influenced in part by political turbulence during President Donald Trump’s second administration, which quickly targeted Biden-era incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles.
Ford and SK On announced plans to end their joint venture in December shortly before Ford announced its pivot to gas-powered trucks at the Tennessee campus.
While the transaction is pending, the companies’ agreement states SK On will own and operate the battery plant on the BlueOval City campus. In the meantime, the facility is still managed by BlueOval SK.
BlueOval SK currently employs around 300 people in Tennessee and construction at the plant is complete, though the facility has not started production, a BlueOval SK spokesperson said.
Early projections indicated that as many as 3,500 people could work at the battery plant.
Once the transition is final — regulatory approvals are expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2026 — SK On will work with BlueOval SK to transition employees, according to SK On spokesperson Joe Guy Collier.
The plant will manufacture batteries for Ford under a supply agreement and SK On plans to supply batteries to other customers, including for use in energy storage systems.
“SK On is committed to establishing the Tennessee facility as a cornerstone of its expanding U.S. advanced battery manufacturing capabilities and production,” Collier said.
Commercial production at the battery plant is now expected to begin in 2028.
Tennessee Truck Plant targets 2029 production
The newly branded Tennessee Truck Plant (formerly the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center) is expected to begin production on gas-powered Built Ford Tough truck models in 2029, according to a spokesperson.
Ford employed 80 people at its facility as of mid-December, Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch told the Lookout on Dec. 17.
The company anticipates employing about 2,300 people there, with significant hiring to begin closer to the start of production.
Equipment will be installed at the plant to support gas-powered truck assembly.
“Ford remains deeply committed to West Tennessee and our substantial investments in the region,” the spokesperson stated. “Our agreements are designed to foster long-term economic growth and job creation, and our strategy shift is intended to ensure the sustained viability of these facilities and the jobs they create.”
“We are in close communication with state and local officials to review our revised plans and ensure full compliance with all existing agreements,” the spokesperson stated.
What’s on the line
State and local lawmakers have lauded the campus and the employment opportunities that come with it as transformational for rural West Tennessee.
Ford’s 2021 agreement with the state requires the company and the BlueOval SK joint venture to create at least 90% of the total 5,800 jobs within 10 years. Meeting that mark secures Ford and BlueOval SK a $500 million state reimbursement for construction work.
Failing to reach 80% of the promised jobs by 2032 would trigger a “clawback” requirement forcing the company to pay back that $500 million in addition to $175 million, based on the value of the state’s donated land.
Other state contributions include:
- $200 million to build a road interchange
- $138 million for water treatment facilities and a wastewater line to the Mississippi River
- $5 million for local government consulting
The state also agreed to pay for a new $60 million extension campus for the Tennessee College of Applied Technology located down the road in Stanton to help train future employees of the massive industrial complex. The campus opened in summer 2024.
Tennessee legislators also earmarked $725,000 to create an 11-member Megasite Authority of West Tennessee to handle development of the BlueOval City site and an additional 300 acres under state control.
Megasite Authority of West Tennessee CEO Clay Bright told state lawmakers in February that the authority is working with the Tennessee Power Distribution Company to plan a natural gas-powered plant on a parcel of the remaining land that would provide power to West Tennessee when demand peaks. The authority is currently leasing about 300 acres to a farmer, but is working with state and local economic development officials to find the “highest and best use” for the property.
Separately, Ford pledged to invest $9 million in West Tennessee communities surrounding the campus in a “Good Neighbor Plan” released in January 2025. A coalition of community members has criticized the package for lacking legally binding accountability measures.
Bright told lawmakers that the state has met all of its commitments to Ford, including the road work needed for Ford’s first phase of the project, water supply and the wastewater treatment plant.
Bright indicated that the state’s agreement with Ford and BlueOval SK “may be refined a little bit” after the joint venture is dissolved and sole battery plant ownership transfers to SK On, “but the details, the intent of that accountability agreement … has not changed at all.”
In a February House committee meeting, Rep. Johnny Shaw, a Bolivar Democrat, said Ford has been “very active” in returning calls.
“I really think they are here to stay,” Shaw said. “I don’t see them leaving soon after building that size building and all the investments they’ve made.”
What about TCAT’s Stanton campus?
TCAT’s Stanton campus — an extension of TCAT Jackson — serves as a workforce training center for the BlueOval City campus and surrounding businesses, but extends open enrollment for anyone interested in the programs offered there.
Those programs include:
- Automotive Technology
- Electric Vehicle Production Technology
- Industrial Maintenance Integrated Automation
- Tool and Die Machining Technology
- Welding Technology
“We do have students enrolled in those programs and we are continuously enrolling in them,” TCAT Jackson President JacQuene Rainey said.
The college is considering the future of its electric vehicle program following Ford’s shift to combustion engine manufacturing at BlueOval City.
“We are looking at the EV Production Technology program and trying to determine if there is still a need for it,” Rainey said. “If there is interest in the program, we will continue to offer (it).”
A Ford spokesperson said “many of the core manufacturing skills acquired through EV training programs, such as advanced assembly, robotics operation, quality control and lean manufacturing principles, are highly transferable to the production of gas vehicles.”
The company will provide additional training for its future workforce to “ensure everyone has the necessary expertise for the new product lines,” the spokesperson said.