Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and Jobs Ohio joined representatives from the Ford Motor Company recently to announce that Ford is investing $1.5 billion into Lorain County at the Ford Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake to assemble an all-new commercial electric vehicle (EV). This investment will create 1,800 new hourly jobs.

“The ingenuity and talent of Ohio’s automotive workforce are second to none, and Ford’s investment in Avon Lake will play an essential role in growing the EV space,” said Gov. DeWine. “Ford has been a partner in Ohio for generations, and its confidence in the Ford Ohio Assembly Plant operations secures EV operations in Lorain County that will be critical for decades to come.”  

In addition to the 1,800 new jobs to make the new commercial EV at the Ford Ohio Assembly Plant, the expanded facility will continue producing Ford’s E-series van, medium-duty trucks and Super Duty chassis cabs. Ford also announced an additional 90 jobs and a $100 million investment between its Lima Engine Plant and Sharonville Transmission plants.

Construction on Ford’s Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake is expected to begin later this year; assembly on the commercial electric vehicle is expected to begin in mid-decade.

“Ohio is one of the world’s great automotive hubs and a key manufacturing state that has been central to Ford since we first opened Ohio Assembly Plant in 1958,” said Kumar Galhotra, president, Ford Blue. “Ford is proud to assemble more vehicles and employ more union autoworkers in the U.S. than any other auto manufacturer, and our commitment to the state of Ohio deepens today with the creation of 1,800 union jobs and $1.5 billion investment to build an all-new commercial EV at Ohio Assembly Plant.”

JobsOhio, the state’s private nonprofit economic development corporation, has placed significant focus on supporting the automotive supply chain as original equipment manufacturers have begun to place a major focus on electric vehicle production.

Ford operates facilities in Avon Lake, Brook Park, Lima, and Sharonville and has more than 7,000 employees in Ohio.