( Intense gradually quickening Heart Beat Sound Effect)
Like kids in a candy shop, today we're at Ford's manufacturing facility where they make the F-150
Lightning. And rumor has it that by the end of 2023, this facility will be able to make 150,000
electric trucks annually, and today we're going to see how it all happens. Let's get started.
[Intro]
You might remember from history class that back in the day Henry Ford was the inventor of the
assembly line. So it's super cool to be here in the exact same spot 100 years later to see the
technological improvements that have happened. Fun fact, that exact building where everything started
has been torn down obviously, but the construction materials have been recycled and reused in the
foundation of the building we're in right now so it's history continues. Obviously we're here at
the end of the assembly line. Let's head over to the beginning so we can see where it all starts.
The beginning of our adventure starts here at the roof of the facility. This is where
the truck bodies and the truck beds come in from being painted in a giant conveyor of
an assembly line where they drop through the roof onto the manufacturing floor.
Behind me is a row of AGVs. They are the workforce of this facility and what moves
the giant components of the vehicle around. As the name applies they are all automated and run along
magnets that are embedded inside of the floor. They're what allow this facility to maintain
operation while expanding during construction. You'll notice that the lights on the top turn to
green when it starts to move as opposed to blue waiting for a signal. And then it should...there
are sensors in the corner on this side as well as the other side, so if it starts coming where
someone is standing, it stops. And since I'm the one currently holding up production, I'm going
to move but it's what allows these to move around the facility and not get in the way of everything
else. There are also a few points around the facility where these can plug in and charge up.
You'll be seeing variations of these a lot throughout the facility.
It's interesting that the moon roof actually comes in through
the front windshield before being lifted up and attached into place.
It's time for the instrument panel. I think it's interesting that the steering wheel
right here has the linkage attached behind it, and all of the dashboard goes in as one piece.
Mounting the windshield is actually a process all of its own. We have
the glass with a Ford sticker, then we put some liquid etcher around the edges.
With the rearview mirror installed we move it over to the large windshield installation arm
which checks the etching first, then applies the urethane
and swings it around to the truck and adheres it to the
truck using lasers to make sure everything is correct. Science.
So up until now the cabs and the truck beds have been separate. It's time to join them together,
hoist them off the ground, suspend them in the air and join them with the chassis.
Behind me is where the chassis get entered onto the assembly line. We have the bodies coming in
over here, chassis coming in over here. This is where they are married together. But before that
union can happen, let's go back to the chassis assembly line and see how those are built.
This is the wall of electric motors that fit inside the chassis. These are what
give the truck the 580 horsepower and 775 pound feet of torque.
As a fun little side fact and possible future video, all of the forklifts here
are run off of hydrogen fuel cells, which is a topic for another day.
This line of AGVs, just like the one before, are following this strip inside the concrete that
magnets are placed at different intervals to guide everything where it needs to go.
The motors are made here in the USA, along with the frames made right here in the United
States. And it can apparently be loaded single-handedly onto the AVG by one single
person. Loading the frame onto the AGV all by himself – I think that's pretty impressive.
Normally you would assume that the pre-bent metal conduit lines are for gasoline or fuel lines,
but this time around it's for coolant to provide cooling for both the front
and rear motors as well as the battery pack. Since batteries are like humans and
like to operate in the same temperatures that humans do. Here we have the battery
pack. At 1,600 pounds it's time to mate the battery with the chassis. Astute observers
so far might have noticed that the chassis is actually upside down. The easiest way
to mate the battery with the chassis is to flip it over and mount it at the same time.
This one
tried to shoo me out of the way during the whole
process. This factory is moving! One of my favorite
machines in this whole facility is this guy – dual twin robots that actually photograph
every single connection made on the chassis to verify if things had been connected correctly.
If anything looks even slightly out of place they will let an operator know to double
check. It's a lot easier to check and verify the connections before it gets joined up the body.
After we're finished you can roll across the street to the wedding ceremony.
And
after the body is secured to the chassis with the mounting bolts, it can lower down
and motor off onto the next station. As you can see these ATG's are significantly more robust than
the previous versions because they are holding a lot more weight. And while EV's don't run off of
gasoline, there are still some liquids inside. We have the AC refrigerant, the brake fluid,
windshield wiper fluid, and the coolant that runs through both motors and the battery.
Before the truck is fully finalized we have the front truck which gets popped
into place – big enough for a golf club bag,
and with a few power outlets of its own. And of course, every truck needs tires.
The skid plates are installed before the final inspection and then that's what all
of these LED lights are for. The brightness of the lights gives us a very detailed look at the
truck to make sure there's no dents and dings from everything that's happened before this.
Now this room right here is where they do the final test on the Ford
F-150 Lightning. There is water coming out from every surface in this room
to test the truck for leaks. The truck might have just been born today but it
has a long life ahead of it and needs to be watertight from every surface.
Not sure whose truck this is, but we're going through the water tester.
No water coming in. So far, so good.
And since I am not wet, I can confirm that this truck is good to go.
After the water test and final inspection the trucks are brought over here to this level 4
charging station that charges at 480 volts with 230 amps bringing the truck from about 20% to
80% in less than 30 minutes. The sound you hear behind me is the liquid cooled charger. With that
much power flowing through these chargers all day every day, the cables are liquid cooled.
After the trucks are done charging, one very lucky employee gets to take the truck on what
they call the rough road which is the final drive before the trucks get delivered to customers.
And that is it – how a Ford F-150 Lightning is born, married, manufactured,
and shipped off to one of you. Absolutely fascinating experience. Huge thanks to Ford
for giving me this opportunity to come and tour their facility. It's a historic building
with a historic new vehicle. I'm a little biased though. I love electric trucks. If
you have any questions leave them down in the comments and I will try to answer them. Come
hang out with me on Instagram. And thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.