Where will the output of the Kentucky battery plant be directed? I've always reckoned that the plant in Louisville (once converted to EV) made the most sense, given the lower freight costs that would be incurred?

Most likely.  The auto community and investors are going to want to know how the skunkworks managed to make an EV that is comparable in price to something made by the Chinese manufacturers like BYD.  

Mach E battery packs are supplied by LG Chem.   BlueOval SK in Tennessee, the JV with SK is supposed to be the first Ford plant to manufacture battery in house. It was planned to supply batteries to the next gen F-150 and the now canceled GE1 Explorer.    The CE1 battery packs will also be made in house in Michigan in the Ford CATL JV. 

I expect them to show the skateboard chassis and maybe some concept designs but I think the focus will be on the manufacturing changes.  

I agree with this. I also think the first wave of CE1 will be these 4 models. However, I think Ford should prioritize the Transit Connect first.   For Transit Connect, I think Ford cancelled the C1 Maverick based panel van again so they maybe going all in on CE1 van. This will be Ford's entry into the autonomous driving van market that's about to blow up big time. Uber signed a deal with VW to deploy ID.Buzz and Waymo was planning to use Zeekr RT made by Geely. But both plans maybe in doubt now due to tariff on European and Chinese cars. Ford has a great opportunity to dominate this fleet market if they can bring the van market quickly.   Amazon is apparently building its own autonomous van (Zoox) which explains why they are so far behind Waymo. So far Zoox has a very small deployment in Las Vegas where as Waymo is already done millions of rides in SF, LA, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta, with more cities coming online every month.   And Lyft is partnering with a start up Benteler so they are still at vaporware stage, despite claims they will deploy next year.    https://electrek.co/2025/01/07/zeekr-multiple-evs-2025-nvidia-thor-tech-us-model-waymo/   https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2025/Volkswagen-and-Uber-Launch-Long-Term-Strategic-Partnership-to-Deploy-Autonomous-ID--Buzz-Vehicles-on-the-Uber-Platform/default.aspx   https://zoox.com/   https://www.lyft.com/blog/posts/lyft-and-benteler-mobility-to-introduce-next-generation-autonomous-shuttles-across-lyft-network      

I don't believe it's bad to go into this with low expectations, just expecting to see a spec sheet and that's it. Even if that's all we get, I guess we gotta say that's better than nothing.    As for the prototype mules, it's pretty common these days for brands to test the platform using a different body at first until we get really close to production. I remember when the mach-e looked like a hacked up escape and everyone was talking about how ugly the design was 😂. So for all we know, Ford's testing their EV truck platform using a maverick body as we speak and we have no idea.  

Isn't supercharged growth of BEV products if the CE1 models do prove popular Ford's expectation? A "Model T moment" implies the following, takin' words from Ol' Henry and modifying them for the big announcement on August 11:   I will build electric vehicles for the great multitude. They will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. They will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men and women to be hired, after the most innovative designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one – and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces.   If that's going to become reality, Ford needs all the capacity it can get for CE1 models, at LAP, BOC, and elsewhere.

So if recall correctly:   LAP shuts down next Spring for retooling   Tooling should be finished up by year end   CE1 products go into production late 2026/early 2027    So they should hit the dealerships in Summer 2027.    As for BOC I don’t think it will be up and running til late 2027? 

Also, we've talked about it in the past, but it's also relevant thoughts on this announcement....     What's interesting to me is that these CE1 products are going to Kentucky. Meanwhile, they're building BOC, which will be vastly underutilized at this point. Obviously they have more data than we do, but from an outside perspective, I'd have done this instead: -Consolidate all new BEV production (except Mach E since it's established) at BOC, including next gen Lighting, T3, and CE1 products, and allow that plant to have some volume until the market for BEVs grow enough to warrant additional plants. -At the same time, I'd rebody the current ICE/hybrid Escape and Corsair on the same C2 platform with new, updated styling inside and out, but retaining powertrains etc to keep costs lower. Keep production at Kentucky, and sell them alongside the CE1 products to give customers a choice/let market dictate product mix in the short term. And then, as the CE1 BEVs (ideally) become more popular, THEN phase out the ICE models. This approach doesn't allow for supercharged growth of BEV products if the CE1 models do prove popular, but it helps to safeguard plant utilization against an uncertain BEV market.

The previous big shot at Lincoln (some lady named Dianne, who retired this year) made the mistake of not adding at least 1 EV to the Lincoln lineup since 2022. That means the current big shot (some dude named Joaquin) has to act fast to fix that.   I like your idea for offering CE1 + ICE/Hybrid versions of the next Lincoln Corsair.