President Biden has supported large subsidies for electric vehicles, including those manufactured by union members, but these measures have stagnated in the Senate and the outlook is uncertain.
On the other hand, much of the employment growth related to electric vehicles is owned entirely or partially by non-union facilities owned by new automakers such as Tesla, Rivian and Lucid, or by foreign companies such as Korean manufacturer SK Innovation. It occurs at a battery facility based in the United States. And LG Chem.
In a statement Thursday, Ford said a new battery and vehicle production facility in the South would create about 11,000 jobs. However, these employees do not automatically become union members, and workers in these states tend to face difficult battles in union formation.
But for investors, Ford’s additional investment in electric vehicles seems welcome news as the company is trying to reform itself in competition with Tesla, Libyan and others. Ford’s share price, which fell sharply this year, rose more than 2% on Thursday.
Ford Said again On Thursday, we sold 6,254 electric vehicles in May. This is an increase of more than 200% over the previous year. That number includes 201 F-150 Lightnings, which the company began production in April.
The company has about 200,000 bookings for Lightning, which is at the heart of its efforts to catch up with Tesla, and has stopped accepting new ones as it takes months to meet demand.
Ford pointed out that truck sales will increase significantly in the coming months as production increases and trucks in transit arrive at dealers. Ford aims to produce 150,000 Lightning trucks annually by the end of 2023.
Sales of electric vehicles (and conventional vehicles) have been limited by a shortage of computer chips. Ford’s new car sales in May were down 4.5% year-on-year. Vehicle executives are also increasingly concerned that the supply of lithium, nickel, and other raw materials needed to make batteries that power electric vehicles is not keeping up with the growing demand for these vehicles. doing.
Vikas Bajaj Report that contributed.
