New EV Project Brings Kentucky to $16 Billion Worth of Manufacturing Activity

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) recently attended events honoring manufacturing investment across the state, including Ford Motor Company's (Dearborn, Michigan) new $2 billion electric vehicle (EV) project, as Kentucky becomes a growing hub for EV production and manufacturing as a whole. Industrial Info is tracking $16 billion worth of active and planned Industrial Manufacturing Industry projects across Kentucky.

Ford aims to overhaul its assembly plant in Louisville, where the automaker will introduce an innovative manufacturing process aimed at producing affordable EVs--starting with an all-new midsize electric truck. That process comes in the form of what the company calls an "assembly tree," where instead of one long conveyor, three sub-assembly lines run simultaneously and then come together: the front of the vehicle, the rear of the vehicle (utilizing large, single-piece aluminum unicastings) and the structural battery core (pre-assembled with seats, consoles, and carpeting), respectively. Production is expected to begin in 2027.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here to read the project report.

According to Beshear's office, the project is the third-largest economic development project in Kentucky's history. "This announcement not only represents one of the largest investments on record in our state, it also boosts Kentucky's position at the center of EV-related innovation," he said in a press release. He added the project will provide 2,200 jobs.

That same press release highlighted other EV project investments under his tenure. Construction of Envision-AESC LLC's (Smyrna, Tennessee) $2 billion EV battery plant in Bowling Green began in late 2022 and is on track to be completed toward the end of this year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota City, Japan) also has announced plans to invest $1.3 billion to further EV production at its vehicle assembly and engines plant in Georgetown--which is the company's largest production facility in the world. The investment at Toyota's 8.1 million-square-foot plant will allow for the assembly of an all-new, three-row battery electric SUV for the U.S. market. The project, along with a proposed $922 million paint facility, is in its early planning stage.

That investment builds on a roughly $500 million upgrade project underway at the plant, which is expected to wrap up in early 2026, to convert the facility to EV production. Subscribers can click here for the three related project reports.

The governor's office said Beshear has announced more than 1,200 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling over $39.5 billion in announced investments, creating more than 62,500 jobs, since the beginning of his administration in December 2019.

Beshear recently attended an event alongside leadership from GE Appliances (Louisville) and state and local officials honoring a previously announced $490 million investment at the company's Appliance Park in Louisville--it's largest manufacturing operation, with more than 6 million square feet for the production of washers, dryers, dishwashers and refrigerators.

The project entails retrofitting and redesigning a building and adding new systems and technology, including automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots, to move production of more than 15 models of front-load washers to the U.S. The new production lines are expected to be operational in 2027. Subscribers can click here for the project report.

Data centers also are being developed across the state. PowerHouse Data Centers, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Real Estate Partners (McLean, Virginia), and Poe Companies (Louisville) formed a joint venture to build the state's first hyperscale data center campus: a seven-building, 400-megawatt (MW) data center campus in Louisville, with the first building (130 MW) expected to wrap up in late 2026. Subscribers can click here for the project reports.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of active and planned Industrial Manufacturing Industry projects in Kentucky.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).