LB Ford EV Design Center Won’t Be Shutting Down

While Ford Motor Co. is restructuring its electric vehicle production plans tied to losses taken in this vehicle segment, it won’t be cutting jobs or projects at its Long Beach office.

On Dec. 15, the automaker issued a statement about taking a series of actions to sharpen its strategic plan, redeploying capital to meet customer demand and drive profitable growth. That redeployment will shift over to higher-return opportunities that will adds trucks and vans to its lineup and launch a new, high-growth battery energy storage business.

As part of the strategic plan, Ford says it will be cancelling a previously planned electric truck, and shifting its production toward lower-cost EVs, hybrid vehicles, and repurposing an EV battery plant.

The automaker expects to record about $19.5 billion in special items, the majority of which will be seen in its upcoming fourth quarter 2025 financial report, with the remainder in 2026 and 2027. As part of these special items, Ford expects approximately $5.5 billion in cash effects, with the majority paid in 2026 and the remainder in 2027.

Emma Bergg, a director at Ford Communications, says that there are no changes planned for Long Beach. The midsize electric truck being designed by the Ford engineering team in Long Beach remains on track to start production at its Louisville Assembly Plant in 2027.

Ford is no longer going forward with a larger electric truck that was planned to be assembled in Tennessee. That assembly plant will be repurposed.

“Both buildings are a hive of activity as we look to launch the platform and the first vehicle from it (mid-size electric truck) in 2027,” Bergg wrote in an email response. 

Ford’s Facility in LB

Bergg is referring to the buildings opened in August at 3555 E. Conant St. in Long Beach. Ford calls the 250,000-square foot site the Electric Vehicle Design Center.

It’s filled with a team working on upcoming, lower-cost midsize models. That will include a midsize electric pickup truck.

Ford says it will be its main design and innovation hub in Southern California. The automaker first used the facility 95 years ago to expand production of its first vehicle, the Model A. That site was later converted for military use during World War II.

Concerns have been raised that EVs, and their necessary charging ports, won’t be viable after the Trump administration canceled the EV tax incentive. The federal tax credit for new and used EVs officially ended on Sept. 30, 2025, terminating credits up to $7,500 for new EVs and $4,000 for used models.

Ford says that it no longer plans to produce select larger electric vehicles where the business case has eroded due to lower-than-expected demand, high costs, and regulatory changes. Along with cutting off EV buyer tax incentives, the Trump administration has made a number of executive orders and policy changes – including rejecting California’s zero emission vehicle mandate – that has changed the landscape for automakers and their plans for upcoming vehicle revamps and launches.

Ford won’t be backing down from electrified vehicles. The automaker will offer several hybrids to complement efficient gas engines. Its Universal EV Platform will be used in multiple electric models. By 2030, about 50% of Ford’s global volume will be hybrids, extended-range EVs, and electric vehicles, versus 17% today, the company said in a statement.

The Ford Universal EV Platform is the engineering concept that the Long Beach team is using. North American EV development is being driven by its new, low-cost, flexible platform. It will be used in new vehicle offerings designed to be highly efficient and affordable, accessible to millions of customers. The first of these will be the midsize pickup truck assembled at the Louisville Assembly Plant starting in 2027.

F-150 Lightning Part of Plan

Ford says that it will be expanding hybrids with a range of executions based on customer needs and duty cycle – economical, performance hybrids, and hybrids with exportable power. Larger trucks and SUVs will be getting increased capacity for capability, towing, and range. That will include adding extended-range electric options to its lineup.

The automaker says that another solution will be Ford’s next-generation F-150 Lightning pickup that will have extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) architecture. That means integrating a gasoline-powered generator that charges the battery on the go, which could provide 700+ mile total range without plugging in. It will be assembled at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich.

Ford’s F-Series pickup trucks continue to be the top selling new vehicles in the U.S. Increasing capacity for passengers, towing, and range is fundamental to Ford’s strategy in recent years. Americans tend to use pickups and SUVs for personal use along with jobs in construction, servicing utility power lines, plumbing, electrician services, and other demands in residential and commercial markets.

Through the end of September, Ford had two of the top 10 best-selling EVs in the U.S. market, according to Car and Driver. The Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV was No. 4, with 41,962 units sold in the first nine months of 2025. The Ford F-150 Lightning was No. 7, with 23,034 units sold.

Tesla continues to be the market leader in the U.S. For the first nine months of last year (according to estimates), the Model Y electric crossover SUV sold 232,000 units; and the Model 3 compact car was No. 2 at 130,700 units sold.

Both companies have set up large service centers for consumer and business customers to access. Ford of Long Beach (BP Ford) at 2950 N. Bellflower Blvd. services a wide variety of vehicles; and Tesla Service Long Beach opened up at 1800 E Spring St. in 2018.

As for repurposing Ford’s battery plant, that will be happening in Glendale, Ky., to serve the rapidly growing battery energy storage systems market. Ford sees the large demand for battery energy storage coming from data centers and infrastructure to support the electric grid. Ford says that will include leveraging underutilized EV battery capacity to create a new, diversified and profitable revenue stream for the company.

Jon LeSage is a resident of Long Beach and a veteran business media reporter and editor. You can reach him at jtlesage1@yahoo.com.