Ford to Produce New Electric Vehicles with Solar Power

Ford Motor Company is set to go solar at its Michigan Assembly manufacturing plant in Wayne, Michigan. Clean solar electricity will help power the assembly of Ford’s line of electric cars, including the new all-electric Ford Focus.

5oo-kilowatts worth of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels will be installed at the Wayne plant, up to 2,000 kilowatt-hours of which will be kept in a battery storage facility on site, storing enough energy to power 100 homes for a year, reports The Detroit News.

The project is a collaboration between Ford, Detroit utility DTE Energy, and Austin-based Xtreme Power.

The solar electricity will power production lines for the Ford Focus, Focus Electric and other hybrid-electric vehicles. Ford expects to save about $160,000 per year by installing the solar system.

That system will be one of the largest in the state of Michigan, as well as the largest use of alternative energy by any Ford plant in the United States. Several in Europe already harness wind, solar and hydro power, reports the Detroit Free Press.

The $5.8 million system goes online as part of DTE Energy’s Solar Currents Program, which offers valuable rebates for solar energy installations. DTE is putting up $3 million and a state grant is covering another $2 million, leaving solar power beneficiary Ford to pay only $800,000 (or 14 percent) of the total costs.

Ford also plans to install 10 electric vehicle charging stations at the plant to charge a fleet of 10 battery-powered trucks. The trucks will transport parts from a body shop at another assembly plant in Wayne to the Michigan Assembly plant for use in Ford’s electric vehicles.

Photo Credit: Car and Driver & Treehugger

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