Ford will lay off all 1,600 Kentucky battery plant employees as it pivots away from EV business | Business
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Ford Motor Co. plans to lay off all 1,600 employees at the brand new electric vehicle battery plant in Kentucky before converting 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.”
“We are actually allowed to bring other customers’ business into this facility,” Adams said. “So primarily, yes, as Ford is our parent, we want to fill this plant with Ford business. But, at the same time, under that scenario, we’re also able to go out and work with other OEMers.”
Lack of EV demand
Last week, Ford and SK On announced an end to their partnership that sparked the massive Hardin County plants in the first place. Ford agreed to take full ownership of the plants moving forward through a subsidiary. And SK On will assume ownership of a nearly finished Tennessee plant and produce batteries for similar utility needs as the plant in Glendale.
The first battery to be sold out of the plants rolled off the assembly line in August of this year, made to power the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning. The second plant next door was put on pause amid a downturn in battery demand. Earlier this year, the WSJ said it’s possible that second plant could be used to supply Nissan with batteries for its EV fleet.
But the entire Hardin County project — originally billed as a $5.8 billion investment in the burgeoning future of Ford’s EV infrastructure — has taken a turn in response to lacking consumer demand. Farley has recently said they planned for too much EV capacity and needed to pull back in response to rollbacks of strict emission rules by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Reps. Samara Heavrin and Steve Bratcher, Republican Kentucky House members who represent Hardin County, said in a written statement Monday that they remain focused on those men and women who could lose their jobs.
“We are optimistic about Ford Motor Company’s decision to take over the Glendale facility and transition the project toward energy storage, particularly as initial plans for the project have faced significant challenges from the outset,” Heavrin and Bratcher said. “At the same time, optimism must be matched with both caution and accountability, and we will be watching closely to ensure commitments are met and honored.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford has lost $13 billion on its EV business since 2023.
This story will be updated.
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