Ontario insists EV subsidies not wasted as Ford Motors plans gas trucks for Oakville

The Ontario authorities is insisting that billions of dollars spent attracting electrical conveyance manufacturers to Ontario person not been wasted aft Ford Motors announced it would nutrient a gas-powered motortruck astatine a works primitively meant for zero-emissions vehicles.

On Thursday, nan American car elephantine said it would nutrient F-Series Super Duty trucks astatine its Oakville Assembly Complex opening successful summertime 2026, pinch an electrical type to travel “later this decade.”

The move intends it won’t build a artillery facility, according to nan union, and will hold plans for electrical vehicles.

The Trudeau and Ford governments person announced billions of dollars successful incentives successful caller years to bring electrical conveyance makers to Ontario, pitching nan province’s proviso of uncommon metals and skilled labour arsenic cardinal reasons to relocate — on pinch generous tax-funded subsidies.

“We’ve seen immense worldwide increases successful EV demand, immense Canadian summation successful EV demand,” Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli said.

“So no, this is Ford acknowledging they’ve sewage a (gas-powered) merchandise that they request different 100,000 made and there’s conscionable nary amended spot to make them than successful Ontario. This is nan very first clip they’ll make nan F-Series successful Ontario.”

Honda, Volkswagen and Stellantis are among nan companies to perpetrate to semipermanent electrical conveyance visions successful Ontario.

Last year, Ford Motors was added to that database erstwhile it announced plans to walk $1.8 billion to toggle shape nan installation into a hub for electrical conveyance manufacturing, including conveyance and artillery battalion assembly.

But, aft readying to commencement EV accumulation astatine nan works successful 2025, nan institution said successful April it was pushing that backmost to 2027 to springiness nan user marketplace much clip to create and let for further improvement of EV artillery technology.

Now, it plans to support focusing connected gas-powered cars arsenic its first privilege successful Oakville.

Fedeli said nan determination to nutrient nan F-Series Super Duty opening successful nan summertime of 2026 intends unionized unit will beryllium heading backmost to activity sooner.

“This is awesome news from Ford — there’ll beryllium 1,800 men and women going backmost to activity a twelvemonth earlier,” he said.

Fedeli said nan announcement of plans for nan Super Duty, followed by an electrical version, will consequence successful much finance and much jobs than before. He said nan company’s first $1.8 cardinal had jumped to $2.3 billion, pinch 400 much jobs for a caller stamping scheme and 150 caller workers astatine a abstracted installation successful Windsor.

“I deliberation nan dense income of nan F-series trucks — it’s nan number-one trading vehicle,” Fedeli explained.

In a property merchandise Thursday, nan institution said request for nan Super Duty was truthful precocious that its U.S. accommodation simply can’t support up, prompting nan determination to pivot Oakville to a state conveyance and allowing it to reopen a twelvemonth early.

“Super Duty is simply a captious instrumentality for businesses and group astir nan world and, moreover pinch our Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant moving level out, we can’t meet nan demand,” said Ford president and CEO Jim Farley.

“At nan aforesaid time, we look guardant to introducing three-row electrical inferior vehicles, leveraging our acquisition successful three-row inferior vehicles and our learnings arsenic America’s No. 2 electrical conveyance marque to present fantastic, profitable vehicles.”

Unifor, which represents Ford Motors workers astatine nan Oakville works welcomed nan news.

“This caller retooling scheme for nan Oakville works addresses our union’s concerns pinch Ford Motor Company’s determination to hold caller conveyance accumulation for a play that was excessively long, excessively disruptive, and excessively harmful to accept,” said Unifor nationalist president Lana Payne.

“Working pinch our section unions and institution executives, we came to an statement that will not only spot our members backmost to activity sooner, it protects our members’ jobs good into nan future.”

Unifor said nan pivot to nutrient nan Super Duty would mean much jobs astatine a stamping installation but that nan alteration would scrap erstwhile plans to build batteries for electrical vehicles astatine nan site.

Fedeli said he remained assured nan province’s strategy to position itself arsenic a hub for electrical vehicles was moving and that large automakers were still fresh to move to zero-emissions vehicles.

“These companies each astir nan world person mandates to move into electrical vehicles, nan displacement is happening,” he said. “We’re very, very assured that we’re each making nan correct moves. Just successful Ontario, they’ve invested $43 cardinal to make nan move.”

— pinch files from The Canadian Press