Tag: Ford Motor Company

Ford Drops Certain Equipment Requirements for EVs as Sales Continue to Struggle

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Electric Mustang

Ford Motor Company told dealers on Thursday that it was dropping certain equipment requirements to boost the sales of its struggling electric vehicle (EV) line, according to Bloomberg.

Dealers had previously needed to invest up to $1.2 million in certain equipment like chargers in order to be eligible to sell Ford’s EV line, with the change allowing all 2,800 dealerships with contracts to the company to sell EVs, according to Bloomberg. The changes to the program are intended to boost struggling sales of Ford’s EV models, which has contributed to the automaker taking a $1.3 billion loss on its EV production in just the first quarter of 2024 after selling only 10,000 vehicles.

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Ford Shareholders Reject Proposal to Audit Child Labor in Electric Vehicle Supply Chain

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Ford electric vehicles

Shareholders at auto manufacturing giant Ford Motor Co. voted down a proposal Thursday requiring that a report be compiled on the use of child labor in its electric vehicle (EV) line.

The proposal, which was presented by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) at Ford’s annual shareholder meeting, called for Ford to report to shareholders the extent to which the company’s EV supply chain involves, depends or relies on child labor outside of the U.S., according to Ford’s proxy statement. The NCPPR called for the report due to the prevalence of child labor in the harvesting of the components used to craft EVs, particularly cobalt, which is commonly sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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Commentary: Biden Administration Moves to Empower Government to Take Intellectual Property, Inventions, and Medicines

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Inventors figure out how to create something that is better than what existed before, and then protect their rights to the idea/creation with a patent.  This is a fundamental principle of private property, one which our nation’s entire economic system is based.

The U.S. Constitution enshrines this basic idea into the DNA of our nation as Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 known as the Patent and Copyright Clause plainly states, “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

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Youngkin Nixes Ford Battery Plant Over Partnership with Chinese Company

Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin blocked Virginia from consideration for a battery plant to supply Ford Motor Company amid concerns about the technology supplied by a Chinese company, he told reporters on Wednesday.

In a press gaggle, Youngkin criticized a clean energy push that relied on technology “owned and dominated by the Chinese.”

“Well, we in fact felt that the recent efforts to put forward a Ford plant that would house Chinese technology to build the batteries was in fact representative of that. And that we felt the right thing to do was to not recruit Ford as a front for China to America. Let’s develop our own technology,” Youngkin said after his State of the Commonwealth speech.

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Tennessee Legislature Passes Contract Transparency Bill for Megasite Construction Contracts

The Center Square

The Tennessee Legislature reached an agreement on a bill that could provide more transparency on construction contracts with Ford’s Blue Oval City megasite development in west Tennessee.

The bill could require construction contractors doing more than $100,000 of work at Blue Oval City to disclose details such as number of employees, the state of residence for each worker, union affiliation (if any) and the work they performed to the state building commission and the speakers of both legislative chambers quarterly.

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Ford Motor Company, University of Tennessee Commit to Multimillion Dollar Partnership

Cooper Moran

Ford Motor Company and the University of Tennessee announced a new partnership for “a stream mitigation and restoration agreement” that will focus on water streams located on the University’s Lone Oaks Farm.

Lone Oaks Farm is located in West Tennessee and serves as a 4-H and science, technology, education, and math (STEM) education center for K-12 students.

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Gov. Whitmer Calls on Lawmakers to Boost Michigan Economic Development Corporation Funding

The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on the Legislature to provide more taxpayer money to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to attract businesses, but an economic development analyst and GOP leader disagree.

Citing Ford Motor Company choosing Kentucky and Tennessee to build electric vehicle battery plants instead of its home state, Whitmer called on legislative leaders to give the MEDC “more resources and more advanced procedural and legal tools” to pursue projects.

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Michigan Missing Out on Ford’s Joint $11.4B Electric Vehicle Factories in Tennessee, Kentucky

The Center Square

Despite Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s claim that Michigan is the future of electric vehicles (EVs), Ford Motor Company and battery maker SK Innovation announced plans to build three new plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.

The new plants, which will host production of electric vehicles and advanced lithium-ion batteries by 2025, will cost roughly $11.4 billion to build and create a projected 11,000 jobs.

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