Just as the American EV market braces for a brutal winter, Ford is making a shocking pivot. As federal tax credits disappear, the automaker is doubling down with a new strategy borrowed not from Silicon Valley,

Ford is investing $5 billion to change the way it makes electric vehicles, a move the automaker says will allow it to manufacture models starting at $30,000 — far less than the current average price for an EV.

Ford will invest $5 billion, including $2 billion at its Louisville, Kentucky factory on top of $3 billion already announced for its BlueOval battery plant. It will expand the Louisville facility by 52,000 square feet and "create or secure" nearly 4,000 direct jobs, Ford added.

Ford said its combined investment of about $5 billion at the Kentucky assembly plant and Michigan battery plant is expected to create or secure nearly 4,000 direct jobs between the two plants while strengthening the domestic supply chain with dozens of new U.S.-based suppliers.